?:?s«^^ |:^^C£||:M498»95 .
PREMiER
JPOUPBClf
0ermän The raost successful seit-instruction book in the German language
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In Europe, French and Italian serve the western and southern fringes; Enghsh is the vogue language; Spanish, outside of Spain,
is
important language
unheard of. The really big, German. It may surprise some to the leading European tongue.
practically is
hear it, but German is In part this is due to the fact that German is almost exclusively a European language. English covers the British Isles, but the real stamping grounds of English are America, the
Commonwealth and
the
Crown
possessions,
where
nearly 75 per cent of English speakers are located. French is
a fairly widespread language (at least
fifty
million Euro-
peans speak it as a native tongue), but French is widespread all over the globe. Spanish is primarily a Western Hemisphere tongue, and the European speakers of Spanish do not go beyond thirty million. Russian, the giant of eastern Europe, has an over-all speaking population that
German, but Russian straddles the Urals and extends over the vast expanses of northern Asia. German, on the other hand, is concentrated in the heartland of the European continent. Its one hundred million speakers embrace not only the total populations of West and East Germany and of Austria, but also three-fourths of Switzerland. This would total up to only about eighty million, but it is far from telling the entire story. There are at least
surpasses that of
twenty million people who speak German as a second language in the countries at the periphery of the Teutonic homeland-Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, northern Italy, eastern France. If you find yourself in any of these countries and your international English and French won't work, by all
means
try
German.
-MARIO
PEI
in Talking Your
Around
the
Way
World
Other Fawcett Books
TEACH YOURSELF
in
the
SERIES
TEACH YOURSELF FRENCH Sir
John Adams and
N, Scarlyn )Vil5on
TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH N. Scarlyn Wilson
WOUVBClf
0erman A BOOK OF SELF-INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN, BASED ON THE WORK BY SIR JOHN ADAMS, M.A., LL.D., COMPLETELY REVISED AND ENLARGED BY SYDNEY W. WELLS, B.A., AND FURTHER REVISED BY E. S.
JENKINS,
B.A.
A FAWCETT PREMIER BOOK
FAWCETT PUBLICATIONS,
INC.,
GREENWICH, CONN.
A
Fawcett Premier Book published by arrangement with David McKay Company, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof.
First
Printed
Premier printing, March 1969
in
the United States of America
FOR A FREE CATALOG
of Fawcett paperbacks,
send a postcard to Fawcett Publications, Book Department, Greenwich, Conn. 06830.
INTRODUCTION To know it
a language properly implies the power of using
freely for three different purposes
:
reading, writing
and speaking. Those who learn a foreign language learn
it
for all three purposes, or for
may
desire to
one or two of them
This work has been designed to enable the student powers as quickly and as easily as possible A language is a vast field, which can never in all three. be fully explored, and learning a language means hard work, careful thought and constant practice. If the student thinks he is going to speak or write or read German in a few months by means of a lesson or two done now and then, he had better give up the idea completely, for he is wasting his time. But this work, if followed conscientiously, will enable the average student not only to read German, but also to write and speak it in a fairly simple way. The student without exceptional facilities must get into the habit of reading aloud, asking himself questions aloud and answering them himself always, or as often as possible, aloud. The learning of words is important. To a large extent the vocabulary has been carefully kept up-to-date and thoroughly modern, with an eye to those who wish to read modern literature, to listen in to German broadcasts, or to travel on the Continent. These words should be mastered somehow, even if it means learning them off in lists. You must always have the subject in your mind. When you cast your eye on a thing, if you have known the German for it and forgotten, do not fail to look it up again at the first opportunity. Conversational power is what you make it yourself. Not much has been given in actual conversations in this book, but all the exercises given are conversational m only.
to develop his
—
INTRODUCTION tone and subject matter. Make up your own converby rearranging the sentences given here. A Key to the Exercises is given. This sliould be used Do your exercise before consulting the Key, sensibly. and then correct your own. Afterwards, do the exercises the other way round, testing your translation of the Key sations
with the original exercises. The student should revise constantly. In the scope of this little work it is impossible to give a thorough revision, but the student should, after every three lessons, go back and quickly refresh his mind on grammar and vocabulary. As all the Exercises have their counterpart in the
Key, no Vocabulary is given. But as many as possible words as they occur should be thoroughly committed to memory in order to render easier the task of translating subsequent exercises. The section on Pronunciation is full and if the student follows it carefully he should have no difficulty in acquirIf he can ing a fair pronunciation, if not a good one. of the
g^X native help so
One word
much
of warning
:
the better.
we have kept
We
all
the exercises
have attempted nothing very clever, nothing " high-falutin', " and you must also school yourselves to this. As soon as you start trying difficult constructions you will find yourselves Keep your sentences fairl}" short and in deep water. make sure of the matter given you here before attempting anything else. If you would like to add a little reading of continuous German prose you could not do better than buy Guerber's Märchen und Erzählungen, Part I (Harrap), after the fourth or fifth lesson of this work. These Märchen, or tales, may strike you as childish, but if you can overcome this, you will find that the easy style and constant repetition will give you a confidence which is very in this
book within certain
important.
limits.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS LESSON
PART §
I.
THE GERMAN ALPHABET
Some German books
are
still
to
printed in
with
for the student to familiarize
fore,
German alphabet
pages worked through this book.
Note
I.
(see
—^There are
lo
five vowels:
are the further combinations ai
eu
be found with Gothic
modem books and newspapers are Roman type, and German typewriters are Roman letters. It would be useful, there-
although
letters,
fitted
I
himself with the
and
u,)
after
o, u,
a, e,
i,
(ai),
au
he has
and there
(au), ei
(ai),
(oi), ie (i).
u and au may modify, i.e. change and pronounced: ä (e), Ö (0 or ce), ü (y), au (oi). The two dots are referred to as the Umlaut, meaning a change of sound. Note 2. There are several digraphs or trigraphs, i.e. groups of two or three consonants with a single sound: Of the above,
their sound.
a, o,
They
are then written
ch pronounced 9 or x ck k ,,
ph
„
f
ss
pronoimced s
sch th
„ „
J t
—
N.B. ^The following notes in this section refer to the Gothic letters only and should be left until the student has worked through this book. The student should now pass to page 13 and study the section on German pronunciation. Note.
—^The
a word, even
small round 5 is used only at the end of this word is the first part of a compound
if
word: (5las (glass),
but (Slafcs
(of
a glass)
and bi5l)er (until now) Staatsmann (statesman)
bis (until)
English
—
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Note
4.
—The double s
word or a
written ^ (sz) at the end of a this syllable is not an integral
is
(when
syllable
part of the whole word but merely a prefix), and also after a long vowel and before a consonant
mu6, must
tfet,
cfebar, eatable,
but
Äu6,
gu6, foot
Although the
e in
eats
e[[cn, to eat
e^bar
kiss
short, the double 5
is
is
written
B because at the end of a syllable, bar not being an integral part of the word, but an adjectival or adverbial suffix (-able).
In
gu^ and
latter short,
above rule we have
5^u6, the u in the former is long and in the but both have ^ because this is, as the
said, at the
end of the word
hut in the plural
:
gufec (the double s not at the end but following a long vowel), 5^ü([c (not ^ because the vowel ü is short in this word,
and the double
now
5 is not
at the end).
—In writing German
with Roman charwrite Füße, or Fiisse (as many Germans do), but if he keeps to the former, it will help to keep his pronunciation correct, i.e. to remember that Observations.
acters the student
may
the preceding vowel is long. There is no rule we can give for helping the student to know whether the vowel He must before a final fe in nouns is long or short. learn this by experience. Note carefully these printed capital letters, which
beginners are apt to confuse 93 (B)
and
:
S3 (V)
G: (C), (5 (G)
91 (R)
£) (O)
and and
and
Ä
(K)
Q
(Q)
12
S
(S)
GERMAN PRONUNCIATION Also f (f) and f (s) (the whereas the f has not).
Note carefully
:
b
(b),
has the stroke right across,
f
b
(d)
Note also the difference between
in
and
()
(h).
German
written letters
:
^
^
(c)
and
yt/
(c,
joining near top)
^^
(n)and
§
^
2.
(t,
(u,
with dot)
and xv\^
(n,
joining at bottom)
distinguished from n
by stroke over it)
GERMAN PRONUNCIATION Preliminary Note
Before we go any further we must explain that the symbols we are using here to indicate the pronunciation are symbols only and not ordinary German letters. These symbols have been devised by the International Phonetic Association so that the pronunciation of all languages can be clearly explained by this International Pronouncing Alphabet. If you take the trouble to learn the soundvalues of these symbols now you will be able to follow the phonetic transcription of any other language you undertake. Practise your sounds aloud, clearly and continuously, and use a mirror to get your lip positions as indicated here.
A good pronunciation is well worth acquiring, and there no reason why the average student who follows these notes conscientiously and continuously should not achieve this, although if he can obtain the help of a native or a good gramophone record on German pronunciation so much the better. is
»3
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN
A
Table of the Vowel-Sounds
Letter and
in
German
GERMAN PRONUNCIATION Table of the Vowel-Sounds t
-
Letter and
Symbol
In
German
—continued
— TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Table of Consonant-Sounds Letter and
In
German
continued
— GERMAN PRONUNCIATION Table of Consonant-Sounds Letter and
in
German
continued
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN This
is
not
pression
unknown
not entirely
sometimes say,
will
A
in English.
Cockney
for instance, Git aht o' 'ere, the ex-
being smoothly carried
on,
but
rather
awkwardly broken up. The Glottal Stop is written phonetically ?
The
German
Stress In
The German spoken language is strongly stressed. You have only to listen in to a German broadcast to realize that. later on,
but
The following rules will be more helpful meantime the stress will be indicated
in the
by a mark after the stressed syllable. 1. The stress is laid on the stem of the word '
:
geh'-en, ge-fähr'-lich, Mäd'-chen
(The principal parts in these words being geh, fähr, Mäd). 2. In compound words the stress is usually on the first
part
Turm'-uhr,
Va'ter-land
eis'-kalt,
But not with the adverbial
particles:
hin-ein', da-mit',
etc. 3.
Separable prefixes take the main stress
aus'-gehen, hin-ajif'-klettern, 4.
The negative
prefix un-
is
:
her-un'ter-kommen
always stressed
:
un'-artig, Un'-sinn, un'-erwartet
A The next script,
Simple Exercise
following passage
is
In
given
Reading first in
Roman
type,
German Fraktur type, thirdly in phonetic fourthly in German handwriting, and finally
in
English. Practise the pronunciation carefully, referring constantly to the foregoing notes.
18
GERMAN PRONUNCIATION Roman Type Der Winter ist kalt. Es regnet oft und es schneit manchmal. Dann sind die Dächer der Häuser mit Schnee bedeckt. Der Schnee ist weiss und schön. Die Jungen und Mädchen spielen gern mit dem Schnee. Manchmal sind die Flüsse und Teiche zugefroren. Dann nehmen die jungen Leute ihre Schlittschuhe und sie gehen auf das Eis. Dort haben sie viel Spass. Wenn aber das Tauwetter eintritt, ist es gefährlich, auf das Eis zu gehen.
German Fraktur
Der
SBintcr
man^md.
i[t
Dann
6(f)nee ht\itdt
Gs regnet
!alt.
bie
ftnb
Der
(B6:)X\tt
Sungcn unb äRäbd)en
fpielen
9Jlancf)maI jinb bie 5Iü[[e
oft
Dä^er x\i
toeife
unb
ber
unb
gern mit
es
f^neit
§äufer
mit
fd)ön.
Die
bem
unb %t\6)t zugefroren.
Sd)nee.
Dann
jungen fieute \fyct S^Uttfc^uf)e unb [ie Dort f)aben [ie oiel Spa6. 2Benn 0el)en auf bas (Sis. aber bas Xautöetter eintritt, ift es gefäi)rlicf), auf bas (Bis 3U gel)en.
nehmen
bie
Phonetic Version der vm't9r ^ist kalt, es reg'nat oft ?unt ?es Jnait mang'mail. dan zint di de'gar der hoi'zar mit Jne: badekt'. der Jne': ?ist vais unt Jörn, di ju'gan ^unt met'gan Jpi'ilan gern mit dem Jne: mang'ma:! zint di flv'sa ?unt tai'99 tsu'gafro'ran. dan ne':m9n di ju'r)9n bi't9 i:r9 Jlit'Ju:9 ^unt zi ge':9n auf das ?ais. dort ha':b9n zi fi:l Jpa:s. ven ^a:b9r das tau'wet9r ^aintrit, ^ist ?es g9fe:r'lig, auf das ?ais tsu ge':9n.
The
is given as a rough guide, although the he seriously wishes to acquire a good pronunciation, must read and re-read the foregoing rules, and practise continually the previous phonetic version
following
student,
if
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN dair vinter
ist
kahlt.
es reegnert
(ert
very short!)
unt (u as oo in book, not as u in hut) es shnite (to rhyme with kite) manchmahl. dahnn zint dee decher (deHer, H as in huge) dair hoyzer mit schnee berdeckt (ber very short!), dair shnee ist vice unt shern (lips rounded!), dee yungen unt met-Hern (ern very short!) shpeelern (ern very short !) gairn mit dem shnee. manHmahl zint die flisser (i pronounced with rounded lips !) unt tie-Her tsooge froren (stress on tsoo and fror). Etc. oft
German Handivriting
H/J/'Cn/w^/iwV^
yV^/ryvfe
•W-wH'
-'vC'v^
^vt-k^/»»'h/'
./tv;^»^v^
.
/thlv/J-U'i/^
Arv-h,
.
'\JrV\f
'U-v^-wOV'VVVV
aA^pvv>/»v
^VVVVV
xvti'
?J1aAA>1^V7VV^
English Version
The winter is cold. It rains often and snows sometimes. Then are the roofs of-the houses with snow covered. The snow is white and beautiful. The boys and
play gladly with the snow. Sometimes are the and ponds over-frozen. Then take the young people their skates and go on-to the ice. There have girls
rivers
they
much
(sets in), is
fun. it
When
the
dangerous on the
thaw-weather ice to go.
in-steps
LESSON
I
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE I.
We now The name apple and Apple
The
is
The Masculine Nouns
come to the study any person or thing
of
nouns. singular, apples
of the language itself. is
called a noun.
Thus
tailor are
plural of
nouns
in
is
plural.
German
is
formed
in different
ways. After all, we have, in addition to apple, apples, such plurals as ox, oxen, man, men, woman, women, sheep, sheep, child, children.
We
some of these man, men; woman This change of vowel see in
plurals a change of vowel sound:
(wuman), women (wimm),
etc.
sound, or Umlaut, as the Germans call it, occurs in the plural of many German- nouns, but not all. All German nouns, whether representing persons or things, are masculine, feminine or neuter, whereas in English things are usually neuter, although we often say she of a ship and other things. The gender, or sex, as it were, of a noun is very important, as the word for the (which is always the same in English) changes according to the gender. The student must therefore learn every noun with the article (the) before it. Thus it is not only necessary to know that apple is Apfel in German he must know it is der Apfel. In this first section we are going to deal only with masculine nouns ending in -el, -en or -er. In the following list notice which nouns have the Umlaut in the plural and which have not. Notice also that the plural form of der [the) is die (the). Notice further that all nouns are written with a capital :
letter in
German.
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Singular • der Garten,
Plural
garden
die Gärten die Äpfel
• der Apfel, apple
der der • der • der • der • der der • der ^ der •
Schneider, tailor Bruder, brother Vater, father Lehrer, teacher Schüler, schoolboy Onkel, uncle Bäcker, baker
die Schneider die Brüder die Väter die Lehrer die Schüler die Onkel
Laden, shop
Wagen,
cart, carriage,
motor-car
Bäcker
die die
Läden
die
Wagen
Notice that Schneider, Lehrer have no Umlaut in the plural because e's and i's cannot take one. Of the
Wagen have no Umlaut in the and Bäcker have the Umlaut already
others only Onkel and
and
plural,
Schiiler
in the singular.
Vocabulary • schön, beautiful
• er, he
they
• sie,
ehrlich, honest
unehrlich, dishonest
^ ist, is ,
sind, are
«
•
nicht, not
• nein,
hier,
here
gut,
good
yes
no
• manchmal, sometimes • immer, alwa^'s
• dort, there • •
ja,
• oft, often
•
schlecht,
bad • arm, poor
• freundlich, friendly böse, angry, wicked
•
reich, rich
4
Exercise
Read and then turn
ganz, quite i
into English
ist arm. Der Vater ist nicht schlecht. der Onkel hier? Nein, er ist dort. Ist der Laden
Der Bruder Ist
nicht hier
?
Ja, er
^ ist
Der Schüler
hier.
Der Bäcker
manchmal
ist oft
ganz
der Apfel nicht gut ? Nein, er ist schlecht. Ist der Garten Note that, as these words are masculine, even though some of them refer to things the English it must in all these cases become er {he) in German. unehrlich.
^
ist
böse.
Ist
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE schön lich
?
Ja, er ist schön.
?
Nein, er
Nein, er
ist
ist
ganz
Ist
manchmal
der Lehrer immer freundIst der Onkel arm ?
böse.
reich.
Exercise 2
Turn the above sentences
into the plural.
that the adjective after the verb
is
Remember
or are does not change.
We will show you by doing the first one
Die Brüder sind have completed the exercise (but not before) turn to the Key beginning page 149 and see whether you have made any mistakes. arm.
:
When you
2.
The Feminine Nouns
We are now going to deal with a number of feminine monosyllables (words of one syllable). Notice that the word for the is die in both the singular and the plural. All these words have the Umlaut in the plural (except where the vowel is e or i) and take -e as their plural ending: Singular
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 3
Read and then
turn into English
alt. Ist die Nuss reif ? Die Kuh Die Magd ist nicht sehr gross. Ist Ist die Wurst fertig ? die Nacht nicht dunkel ? Die Wand ist sehr schön. Ist die Hand braun ? Nein, sie Ist die Kuh durstig ? Nein, sie ist hungrig. ist weiss. Die Stadt ist nicht alt, sie ist neu. Ist die Maus immer Die Magd ist manchmal sehr freundlich. Die klein ? Nuss ist alt und sauer. Die Nacht ist ganz schwarz. Die Magd ist gross und dünn.
Die Stadt
ist
ist
sehr
nicht braun.
Exercise 4
Turn the above comparing
it
exercise into the plural, afterwards
with the answers in the 3.
Now we come
Key
(see
page
150).
The Neuter Nouns
and last gender. Neuter a Latin word meaning neither, i.e. neither masculine nor feminine. Notice that in this case the singular definite article is das {the), while the plural is, as for the masculine and feminine, again die. These neuter nouns we give here all take the Umlaut in the plural (except where the vowel is e or i) and the plural ending is -er. to the third
is
Singular
das das das das das das das das das das das das das das
Plural
Blatt, leaf
die Blatter
Buch, book Dach, roof
die die die die die die die die die die die die die
Dorf, village Ei, egg
Feld, field Glas, glass
Haus, house Horn, horn Kind, child Kleid, dress Lied, song
Rad, wheel Wort, word
Bücher Dächer Dörfer Eier Felder Gläser
Häuser Hörner Kinder Kleider Lieder
Räder Wörter
:
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE Vocabulary lang, long
viereckig, square
kurz, short
hoch, high
voll, full
niedrig,
leer,
low they aber, but
empty
sie,
grün, green rot, red
oder, or ziemlich, fairly fast, almost, nearly
es, it
schwer, difficult leicht, easy rund, round
zu, too selten,
seldom
Exercise 5
Read and then
translate into English:
Das Rad ist rund. das Dorf nicht klein und sehr alt ? Das Ei ist nicht rund. Das Dach ist rot. Das Buch ist nicht zu schwer. Nein, es ist fast zu voll. Ist 1st das Glas nicht leer ? das Wort leicht ? Nein, es ist sehr lang und schwer. Nein, es ist sehr klein. Das Haus Ist das Kind gross ? Ist das Feld rund oder viereckig ? ist ziemlich hoch. Es ist \aereckig. Das Kleid ist ganz neu, aber es ist Das Blatt ist lang und grün. Ist das nicht sehr schön. Haus nicht zu niedrig ? Das Lied
ist
nicht sehr schön.
Ist
Exercise 6
Turn tlie above exercise into the compare your answers with the Key.
plural,
and then
Revision Exercise
Translate into
German
Are the gardens long and beautiful? They are beautibut they are not very long. Is the tailor always honest? Yes, he is always honest. Is the glass alwaj^s full? No, it is often empty. Are the cities old or new? They are old. The fields are nearly always green. Are ful,
25
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN The apples are too green and sour. house big or small ? It is very big. Are the shops always empty? No, they are seldom empty. Are the maids tall and thin? No, they are short and fat. Are the children always good? No, they are sometimes very wicked. The night is long and very dark. The brother is poor but quite honest, and the father is rich but quite dishonest. The songs are too long and too difficult. the nuts not ripe? Is the
Here
is
the village, and there
is
the house.
The
child
is
nearly always hungry.
LESSON
II
THE WEAK VERB Pronouns are
little
repetition of nouns,
words which are used to avoid the and a few English pronouns are:
you, we, us, them, it. Pronouns are divided There are three persons: /,
First person
:
into
persons
the person speaking
(7,
and numbers.
we, me, us).
Second person: the person addressed (you). Third person: the person spoken about [he, they,
she,
it,
him, her, them).
The numbers are singular (one person, as /, you, he, it) and plural (as we, you, they). As in English we must say / am, he is, we are, and it is wrong to say we is, he am, they loves, etc., so in German there are certain endings to the verb (the word which
she,
expresses a state or an action, as am, do, love, hate, etc.) and these endings must be learnt carefully by heart,
and must never be confused. Let us look at the following conjugation, or arrange-
ment
of the verb:
26
THE WEAK VERB lieben, to love
Sing
;
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN er
r
1
sie
I
V
^g
,,
,
,.
,
have the verb ending
m
er liebt
sie liebt * -t (-et) * < o^
..
,
^^ j.^^^^
ihr J
L
ihr hebt
wir
r
wir lieben
1
sie
„
„
„
>
-en
lieben
< sie
Sie J
[^
Sie lieben
—
*Note. With the -st (-est) and -t (-et) endings the extra e is put in when the stem of the verb {i.e. that part left when the endings are taken away) ends in a consonant followed by d, t, or n, in the du, er and ihr forms;
m
and when the stem ends the extra e
is
in a hissing consonant kept in the du form only.
Examples (using the verbs reisen, tanzen)
(s, z, ss)
öffnen, landen, atmen, zeichnen,
:
öffnest (you open), er landet (he lands), du atmest (you breathe), er zeichnet (he draws); du reisest (you travel), but er reist (he travels) du tanzest (you dance), but ihr tanzt (you dance)
du
:
:
Notice further that verbs whose infinitive (or simplest) form ends in -em or -ein have -ere and -le after ich,
and
-ert
and
-elt after er
or ihr:
ändern, to change
:
change you change he changes
ich ändere, du änderst, er ändert,
I
lächeln, to smile
:
smile
ich lächle,
I
du
you smile
lächelst,
he smiles
er lächelt,
Asking a Question
The
interrogative form
is
The English
quite simple.
Do I smoke.^ Does she dance? Do you telephone.^ Does the man travel? do not exist in German. The German question form is always Smoke I? Dances she? Telephone you? Travels the man? etc. Thus:
do or does in such forms as
Do I smoke ? Does she dance ? Do you telephone ? Does the man travel
Rauche Tanzt
ich
sie
?
?
Telefonieren Sie ? Reist der Mann ?
?
88
THE WEAK VERB The Negative Form and does in making a negative stateWe ment. The Germans never do this, but say quite simply / smoke not, she dances not, etc. also use do
I do not smoke She does not dance. You do not telephone.
The man does not
Ich rauche nicht. Sie tanzt nicht. Sie telefonieren nicht. Der Mann reist nicht.
travel.
Vocabulary machen, to make
träumen, to dream atmen, to breathe
kochen, to boil spielen, to play sagen, to say antworten, to answer lachen, to laugh
reisen, to travel
zeichnen, to draw lieben, to love hassen, to hate schicken, to send telefonieren, to telephone rauchen, to smoke arbeiten, to work reichen, to hand, pass öffnen, to open
lächeln, to smile suchen, to seek, look for
hören, to hear weinen, to weep besuchen, to visit
Exercise 7
Put the following into the
plural, thus: wir träumen
Ich träume Du tanzest Er raucht Der Schneider arbeitet
Du
Ich besuche.
Der
Bruder
Schüler? suchen.
sie
Er
Ich höre.
Telefoniert sie?
sagt.
Magd
Die
sagst.
rauchen
die Schneider arbeiten
suchst.
lacht.
Du
ihr tanzt
kocht.
Sie hasst.
Spielt
Sie
der (you)
Exercise 8
Put the following into the singular:
Träumen
wir?
Ihr
antwortet.
Sie
(thej^
Kinder
masc.)
atmen. Hören Sie (you)? Sie (they, fem.) a.rbeiten. Die Brüder hassen. Wir lächeln. Antworten die Lehrer? zeichnen.
Die
Onkel
reisen.
29
Die
.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 9
Translate into German: I
(a)
hear the cow.
The uncle hates the maid.
The
maids boil the sausages. We love the maid. You (du, The tailors make the or 2nd sing,) look for the nuts.
The brother visits the village. I pass the The children hate the song. She draws the
dresses. glcLsses.
smile, but she weeps. I hear the mice. Do you look for the cows. Does she smoke? Do you (Sie) (Sie) send the books? not dance? Does the father work? Do the children I dreaming? play? Is the maid boiling ^ the leaves? Are you {2nd sing.) weeping? Is the child breathing?
house. {b)
I
We
Am
LESSON
III
THE CASES
We
which is or the Subject. The Subject is always in what is called the Nominative Case. This is so in English, but it does not matter much to us, as our words, do not change much, but it is importaYit in German. When the action of the verb passes directly on to somebodj' or something else, that somebody or something is the Direct Object, and is in the Accusative Case. If we take the sentence The tailor makes the dress, and ask: Who snakes the dress? we get the answer The tailor. The tailor is there the Subject and in the Nominative Case. If we ask: What does he make? we get the answer The dress. The dress is therefore the Direct Object, in the Accusative Case. In Exercise 9 we successfully did a number of sentences said before that the person or thing
does something
is
30
—
1
:
THE CASES like this
without needing to
know anything about
cases.
But that was because the sentences were carefully chosen If you go back to that exercise to avoid difficulties. you will find that no masculine singular nouns occurred Object or Accusative Case, because der (Nominative singular) becomes den (Accusative singular), although the feminine singular, neuter singular and the plural forms (die, das and die) remain the same. We will now do an exercise including some masculine Compare the singular nouns in the Accusative Case. in the Direct
following
Der Bruder
arbeitet
Ich besuche den Bruder.
In
the
first
sentence,
who works?
The brother
therefore the Nominative Case.
In the second sentence, whom do in the Accusative.
I visit?
—therefore
The brother
Exercise 10
Besuchst du den Onkel? Ich suche die Eier. Der Bruder besucht den Laden. Der Schneider reicht das Kleid. Der Lehrer sucht den Schüler. Wir hören die Schüler. Der Bäcker schickt die Würste. Die Magd kocht den Apfel. Sie kocht Äpfel. Exercise
1
hear the song? I visit the brother. We look The schoolboy looks for eggs. I draw the house. The teacher says the word. The father visits the uncle. She does not answer. Does the uncle
Do you
^
for the teacher.
visit
the town?
You
(du) visit the baker.
There is another kind of object, the Indirect Object. This might be said to answer the question To whom? ^
Use Sie unless told
differently.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Consider the sentence:
The
tailor
sends the baker the apples.
Who
sends ? What does he send ? To whom does he send
?
The tailor. (Nominative Case.) The apples. (Accusative Case.) To the baker. (Dative Case.)
Very often the Dative Case is expressed in EngHsh by to: The tailor sends the apples to the baker. But does not imply physical motion towards, but a receiving of something, the to is not expressed in German, the Dative Case of the article and the noun being sufficient. as this to
The Dative Case Singular
of the Article is as follows:
:
THE CASES in English the uncle's book or the book of the uncle.
thing
we
are really talking about
is
the book, and
The we The
uncle's or of the uncle to describe which book. case of this expression uncle's or of the uncle is called Possessive in English, and in German it is referred to
add
as the Genitive Case. The noun in the Genitive Case usually (but not always) follows the noun on which it depends, and the Definite Article is also put into the
Genitive Case. The Genitive follows Singular
Case
of
the
Definite
Article
is
as
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Das Glas des Kindes ist leer. Der Lehrer öffnet Bücher der Schüler. Der Bruder des Schneiders schickt der Magd des Vaters das Kleid. Hörst du nicht die Lieder der Kinder? Ich telefoniere dem Vater des Bäckers. Die Magd des Schneiders schickt dem Bruder des Bäckers Äpfel und Nüsse. Die Homer der Kuh sind nicht sehr lang. Die Hände der Magd sind klein und weiss, aber die Hände der Brüder sind ^anz gross und klein.
die
rot.
Exercise 15
Remember
that of two noun objects, the Indirect (Dative) usually precedes the Direct (Accusative).
The horns
of the
cows are not too
to the brother of the maid.
The
long.
I
telephone
roof of the house
is
The schoolboy's father answers the teacher. The uncle's maid sends eggs and apples to the tailor's brother. Does he not visit the tailor of the village? Do you not hear the maid's song? The bakers' shops are quite full. The baker's brother hears the songs square and red.
of the children.
I
do not send the maid's dress to
the tailor.
LESSON
IV
HABEN. SEIN AND THE IMPERFECT masculine nouns ending in e form all their by simply adding n. Thus Knabe, a boy:
Nearly
all
cases except the Nominative sing,
Singular
Plural
Nom. der Knabe Ace. den Knaben Gen. des Knaben Dat. dem Knaben
Knaben Knaben der Knaben den Knaben
Note that there
is
die
die
no Umlaut.
34
HABEN. SEIN AND THE IMPERFECT There are two verbs that you cannot learn too soon or Here they are haben, to have, and sein, to be.
too well.
:
Present of haben Plural
Singular 1.
habe
ich ,
I ,,
,
,
2.
du hast
thou hast
3.
er hat
he has
Observe that haben
know
it
Sein
yet.
|.,
sie
is
we have
wir haben rSie haben-j
have
a
little
Kaht haben
Y^^ have
/
they have
irregular so far as
we
quite irregular.
is
Present of sein Plural
Singular
am
1.
ich bin
I
2.
du
thou art
3.
er ist
bist
he
we are
wir sind (.,
.
you are
\
,
they are
sie sind
is
we have been dealing with the Present tense, our verbs have dealt only with things now going In dealing with things that were done in the past we on. use a form of verb called the Imperfect tense. It is easily learned, and diffei's from the Present in having a t all through, and in having a final e in the third person singular. Compare the following with the Present of lieben as given on page 27 So
that
far
is,
:
Imperfect Indicative of lieben Singular 1.
ich liebte
2.
du
3.
er liebte
liebtest
I
Plural
we loved
wir liebten
loved
thou lovedst he loved
|-j^
sie
The Imperfect may be put
bebtet hebten
J
^^^ loved they loved
into EngUsh in two ways: / was loving. Ich liebte does duty for In English we often use do and is, and was and did along with verbs. / aw loving, you were loving, etc., are called the progressive form, because they show
/ loved, both forms. (i)
(2)
35
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN that the loving
is
was going on continuously
or
:
I do
love,
she did love, etc., are called the emphatic form. But German does not allow this use of a^n, was, do, did; these little words are never put into German along with verbs.
I
do love
is
just ich liebe.
the same, ich liebe. loving? is the same, liebte.
ich?
I
She
did love loving
is
= =
Do
I
love?
I
am
loving
= liebe
is
ich?
just
Am
I
was loving = ich ich liebte. Did I love = liebte sie liebt. Does she love? = liebt liebe
ich?
I
sie?
Vocabulary der der der der der der der tot,
Neffe,
nephew
Löwe,
lion
leben, to live, be alive lernen, to learn erzählen, to tell, relate wohnen, to dwell, live
Franzose, Frenchman Hase, hare Ochse, ox Matrose, sailor Junge, boy
wo ? where
?
oben, upstairs unten, downstairs noch, still
dead
Exercise 16
Wo wohnen die Brüder des Matrosen? Sie wohnen nicht hier. Erzähltest du dem Jungen das Lied der Matrosen? Sind die Neffen des Franzosen oben? Nein, sie sind unten. Leben die Hasen des Knaben? Nein, sie sind tot. Die Junger zeichneten die Löwen. Lernten Sie nicht das Lied des Matrosen? Wir besuchten nicht oft den Neffen des Franzosen. Die Hörner des Ochsen sind sehr lang. Sie schickten den Matrosen Äpfel, Nüsse und Eier. Wir
sind Franzosen.
Exercise 17
Where do you still)?
No,
is
it
to the baker's It is there.
are not here.
live?
dead.
nephew?
Where Is
Does the hare still live (= live Did you send the boy's book
Where
is
the sailor's house?
are the Frenchman's oxen?
not the Frenchmen's house white?
36
They No,
THE DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES there
red;
it is
the roof of the house.
is
Is the sailor's
nephew not learning the song? Was the Frenchman's nephew smoking? No, he was not smoking, he was working. Are the sailor's children playing? I was laughing, but she was weeping. Did you live upstairs or downstairs? Exercise 18
We
are poor, but
you are
Marie
rich.
is
upstairs
and
Peter is playing downstairs. Gretchen and Paula have the hare. It is big and brown. Has the sailor the ox? Are you (du) still there? Yes, I am here. Have the Yes, they have glasses, but they are sailors glasses?
Where
empty.
We
are we?
you
cows and oxen?
(du)
Where are Have
are upstairs.
the sailor's nephews playing?
They
No, but
are there.
have the hare.
I
Conversational Expressions Guten Morgen Guten Abend Guten Tag Gute Nacht
Good Good Good Good
I
I
!
!
Wie geht
es
Ihnen
?
Sehr gut, danke, und Ihnen
?
morning evening
day
I
!
I
How
night are you
Very
well,
!
?
thank you, and you
LESSON V THE DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES— SOME PREPOSITIONS Imperfect of sein Singular
war
1.
ich
2.
J du warsti
3.
er
war
I
Plural
was
XI-
wir waren rSie waren-»
J.
thou wast
we were
|.j^^ ^^^^ | you were sie waren they were
he was
37
?
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Imperfect of haben Singular
Plural
had
ich hatte
2.
du hattest thou hadst
3
er hatte
I
we had
wir hatten
1.
|.,
he had
^
hattet
sie
hatten
J
^^^ ^^^ they had
Exercise 19
Die Nüsse und Äpfel waren nicht reif. Der Neffe des Lehrers war oben. Die Brüder der Magd waren tot. Die Kühe des Onkels waren gross und braun. Ich hatte den Hasen, aber er ist tot. War der Vater des Schülers sehr böse? Nein, er war ziemlich freundlich. War das Glas des Matrosen leer? Nein, es war ganz voll. Hattest du den Garten? Ja, er war sehr schön. Wo warst du? Ich war oben. Exercise 20
He was not here. Were the teachers there? Yes, and the scholars. Was the teacher always friendly? No, he was often very angry. Did Where was the
sailor?
Yes, we had the house and the garden. Were the sausages ready? No, but we had apples and nuts. I was very thirsty and the glass was quite empty.
you have the house there?
The
Definite Article and the Demonstratives
It is better to learn the article, as
by using forms,
it
reference.
it.
may
But
since
you have been doing,
we have now
be well to gather
it
up
seen
it
in all its
into one table for
THE DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES There is another reason for giving the article in full There are certain little words called demonstratives that are used to point out nouns in German, and these are declined exactly like der, die, das. These words are here.
dieser
=
this ;
=
jener
that
;
jeder
= every.
With
the
three genders they appear: Plural
Singular
Masc.
Fem.
Neut.
M., F. and N.
dieser jener jeder
diese
dieses jenes jedes
diese
jene jede
The very meaning
of the
jene alle
word shows us that we cannot
We cannot of jeder; we use alle instead. say every houses, but we can say all houses alle Häuser. Another word, which does not point out but asks a question, is declined in the same way. It is welcher, welche, welches (sing.), welche (plural). It means which ? this ox; jene Kuh Thus: dieser Ochse that cow; jedes Buch every book; welches Buch? which have a plural
:
=
=
=
=
book?
Some
Prepositions
Prepositions are little words like to, with or in, which show the relation between certain words in sentences. In
English prepositions are said to govern the Accusative Case, but German they may govern the Accusative, the Dative or the Genitive Case. We shall begin with six which govern the Dative.
m
aus, out mit, with
in,* in
von, of or from zu, to or at
nach, after or to
=
aus dem Hause out of the house, the town, nach dem Lehrer after the teacher, zu Hause at the house or at home.
Thus we
write:
in der Stadt
= in
=
=
*
In can
shall use
it
also govern the Accusative only with the Dative.
39
:
but in the meantime we
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Vocabulary one
eins,
zwei,
two
drei, three vier,
four
fünf, five
sechs, six
sieben, seven
acht, eight
neun, nine zehn, ten
eleven zwölf, twelve dreizehn, thirteen vierzehn, fourteen fünfzehn, fifteen sechzehn, sixteen siebzehn, seventeen achtzehn, eighteen neunzehn, nineteen zwanzig, twenty
der Krieg, war das Zimmer, room die Kirche, church
elf,
-das Geschäft, business
die Schule, school die Klasse, class
es war, there
(-it)
es waren, there
was
(-it)
were
Exercise 21
Welches Kind spielt in dem Garten? Dieses Kind dem Garten mit dem Neffen des Schneiders. Waren ^ zehn Kühe in jenem Feld? Nein, es waren acht Ochsen dort. Jeder Schüler hatte vier Bücher. Ich bin in dieser Klasse. In welcher Klasse bist du? Waren Sie sehr arm nach dem Krieg? Der Bäcker In welchem schickte den Neffen aus dem Zimmer. Dorf wohnten Sie? Wir wohnten in diesem Dorf, in jenem Haus dort.
spielt in
Exercise 22
Had every child five or six apples? Which teacher The three children were in sent the father this book? Were I sent the children to (the) school. the church. There were there eight or nine houses in that village? There are (es sind) five teachers in this school, and there are ten children in each class. In which house do you live? Which song did you learn? Which boy did you send out of the class? Which cow did you He sent nine eggs with the dress. Every child hear? In which room in that village has three or four books. He is upstairs in the uncle's is the sailor's nephew? seven.
room. ^
Notice that
when war
or
waren comes
40
first,
the es
is
omitted.
:
DECLENSION OF GERMAN NOUNS Conversation reichen
Bitte,
Sie
mir jenen
Please pass
me
that hat.
Hut! Hier
Here
ist er.
Danke vielmals
Many
!
Not
wo
ist
die Post
thanks.
at Please,
Bitte schön. Bitte,
it is.
?
all.
Office
where
In jener Strasse, links (rechts).
In that street on the
Auf Wiedersehen
Good-bye
I
LESSON
the
is
Post
?
left (right).
1
VI
DECLENSION OF GERMAN NOUNS
We have hitherto of plurals of
dealt in detail only with three types
nouns die Lehrer die Nächte die Dörfer
der Lehrer die
Nacht
das Dorf
We
going to ask the student, in his own inby heart (and the sooner the better) the Table of Declensions given on pp. 185-187. If he does this he will have no difficulty in declining (or giving the different forms of) any noun he may come Learning these lists will also add to his vocabuacross. lary a number of very useful words of which he has Some teachers do not advise learning lists by need. heart, but it is much more important and useful than learning a few poems by heart, and the student should even then constantly refer to the Table and the lists. For instance, suppose he comes across a masculine monosyllable, say, der Kopf, the head. Masculine monosyllables, says the Table, have their plural in -e (except a few easily learnt by heart in List 5 on page 187) and terest,
are
now
to learn
41
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN some have the Umlaut in the plural, while others have not. The list of those which have not is given and reference to that (until the whole on page 185 list is known by heart) will show that der Kopf does not occur there. Therefore der Kopf has the Umlaut ,
in the plural.
Feminine nouns, Mutter and die Tochter only are in Declension i (both taking the Umlaut), there are about 30 in DeclenSimilarly, he will notice that of the
die
monosyllables and all taking the Umlaut whereas all other feminine nouns (except those in -nis in Declension 2) are in Declension 4. There are no feminines in Declension 3, and the student must never forget that no feminine noun has any ending in
sion 2
(all
in the plural),
the singular. It the student has to deal with a Neuter monosyllable, he will refer to List 4 on page 187 If it occurs in that list it takes the Umlaut and ends in -er in the plural. If not it is in Declension 2, does not take any Umlaut .
and its plural ending is -e. Notice particularly that there is always an -n in the Dative plural whether of nouns, articles or adjectives. The brackets round the (e) in the Dative singular of Declensions 2 and 3 mean that this e is not always added. It is added as a rule only in the case of monosyllables and need not be added even then. The brackets round the (e) in Declension 4 mean that where the word already ends in -e or in a weak ending (-el, -en, -er) -n only is added. We give here the full declension of the nouns indicated in the Table in the plural
Declension
der Laden, shop der Laden
den Laden des Ladens
dem Laden
Läden Läden der Läden den Läden die die
I
der Wagen, cart, car
der
Wagen
den Wagen des
Wagens
dem Wagen
Wagen Wagen der Wagen den Wagen die die
DECLENSION OF GERMAN NOUNS Declension 2
Masculine der Kopf, head
der Kopf
den Kopf des Kopfes
dem
der Schuh, shoe der Schuh
Köpfe die Köpfe der Köpfe den Köpfen die
Kopf(e)
den Schuh des Schuhes dem Schuh (e)
Neuter
Feminine
das Schaf, sheep
die Nacht, night
Nächte Nächte der Nächte den Nächten
Nacht Nacht der Nacht der Nacht
das Schaf das Schaf des Schafes
die die
die die
Schuhe Schuhe der Schuhe den Schuhen
die die
dem
Schaf{e)
die Schafe die Schafe
der Schafe den Schafen
Declension 3
MascuHne
Neuter
der Mann,
das Gtes, glass das Glas das Glas des Glases
dem
Glas(e)
Mann den Mann
die Gläser die Gläser
der
der Gläser den Gläsern
des
Mannes
dem Mann{e)
man
Männer Männer der Männer den Männern
die die
Declension 4
Feminine die
Übung, exercise
Übung die Übung der Übung der Übung die
die Schwester, sister
Übungen die Übungen der Übungen den Übungen die
die Schwester die Schwester
die Schwestern die Schwestern
der Schwester der Schwester
den Schwestern
der Schwestern
Mascxiline
der Knabe, boy
Knabe den Knaben des Knaben dem Knaben der
der Student, student
Knaben Knaben der Knaben den Knaben
die Studenten den Studenten die Studenten des Studenten der Studenten dem Studenten den Studenten
der Student
die die
The Table
of Declensions on pages 185-187 sums up a nutshell the whole question of German Nouns, and it will be the student's own fault if he continues to be confused and disheartened by German plurals. The in
43
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN more he refers to those pages and the sooner he learns them by heart the better. They apply to 95 per cent, of the nouns in the German language. Of the other 5 per cent, we may mention here those nouns in -or (from the Latin) with the stress in the and on the -or in the Such are der Direk'tor, der Dok'tor, der Proplural. syllable before the -or in the singular fes'sor, etc.
die Professo'ren die Professo'ren der Professo'ren den Professo'ren
der Profes'sor
den Profes'sor des Profes'sora
dem
Profes'sor
Finally there are a few modem words of foreign origin that have their plural in -s, such as das Auto, motor-car;
Autos Autos der Autos deu Autos
das Auto das Auto des Autos
die die
dem Auto
It will be seen from the foregoing that the most important parts of a noun's declension are the Genitive Constant practice singular and the Nominative plural.
alone will lead to success.
Vocabulary die Uhr, clock, watch die Taschenuhr, ^ pocket watch
der Mantel, coat das Fenster, window die Tür, door der Stock, stick die Socke, sock der Hut, hat
der das das das der der
die Mütze, cap der Anzug,* suit
Notice that in the case of
Haar, hair Bein, leg Licht, light
Tag, day
Vogel, bird die Brust, breast, chest der Kragen, collar
der Knopf, button der Strumpf, stocking 1
Handschuh,^ glove
Compound Nouns
it is
the final or
main part which has the gender and declension. For example, Therein Anzug, Zug is a masculine monosyllable. An is a prefix. lore der Anzug is dechned as a masculine monosyllable.
44
:
INDEFINITE ARTICLE Exercise 23
Give the number (i, 2, 3, or 4) of the Declension, the CVenitive singular and the Nominative plural of the nouns given in the preceding Vocabulary. Thus des Mantels
der Mantel
LESSON INDEFINITE ARTICLE In
German
definite
AND
die Mäntel
VII
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
as in English there are
two
articles,
—^which we now know pretty well—and the
the in-
The indefinite article in English is a or an. In German it is ein or eine. You had better learn it from this table, which you will readily understand by comdefinite.
paring
with the table of the have no plural.
it
ein can
Masc.
Nom.
Fem.
definite article.
Neut.
Obviously
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN
INDEFINITE ARTICLE
The names of places (countries, towns, etc.) are usually and take no article. They form their Genitive by von or by the Genitive -s: neuter,
Die Hauptstadt von Deutschland (die Hauptstadt Deutschlands) ist Berlin, the capital of Germany is Berlin.
Feminine names of countries
(die
Schweiz, Switzer-
land, die Türkei, etc.) do require the article
:
Die Hauptstadt der Schweiz, the capital of Switzerland.
Notice that
London, not
:
we say
die Stadt Berlin, die Universität
die Stadt
von
Berlin, etc.
may
be added to names of towns to indicate the inhabitant, or to form an adjective: -er
Die Berliner sagen das nicht, the Berliners do not say that. In einer Londoner Zeitung, in a London newspaper. Pilsener Bier, Pilsen Beer.
das Land
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN die Frau, lady, woman der Völkerbund, League of Nations Genf, Geneva in der Schweiz, in Switzerland nachder Schweiz, to Switzerland der Gesandte, ambassador
England, in England nach England, to England in
in Berlin, in Berlin
nach Berlin, to Berlin aus Moskau, from Moscow der Bolschewist, Bolshevik der Faschist, Fascist der Herr, gentleman
Exercise 24
Der Gesandte aus Berlin
ist
jetzt in
schickte meinen Bruder nach Genf.
London.
Ich
Es sind keine Äpfel
dem Garten. Unser Haus ist in dieser Strasse. Ein Spanier aus Madrid ist unten. Hast du meine Handschuhe? Er ist der Neffe eines Lehrers in Köln (Cologne). Wo ist deine Uhr? Hier ist sie. Ottos Anzug war in diesem Zimmer. Ist dies Ihr Hut? Wo ist Marie? Ist Der Neffe dies nicht Ihre Armbanduhr (wrist-watch) ? Ich reiche meinem Onkel seinen Hut. ihrer Magd ist tot. Unsere Kühe sind in dem Feld. Marie Schmidts (Smith's) Onkel ist in Paris, und Wilhelms Vater ist in der Schweiz. Die Schwester von Fritz ist in dem Laden ihres Onkels.
in
Exercise 25
Did he not send any (= sent he no) stockings with the Her dresses are always very good. I often send shoes? (= send often) apples and nuts from my garden to my nephews in Germany. We sometimes visit (= visit sometimes) our uncle in Switzerland. Did you send your nephew to Geneva or to Rome (Rom)? Max's shoes are black and Gisela's gloves are brown. Where is your uncle's house? It is in London. Are the rooms He did not send any (= sent of his house very big? Have you a Paris newsno) buttons with her dresses. paper? My uncle hasn't a car. Did you send my The houses of our city are brother's books to London? tall and beautiful.
48
LESSON
VIII
RULES FOR GENDER noun meaning a male person masculine, and every noun meaning a female person or animal is feminine. But the endings of words have so much to do with gender that we cannot depend entirely upon the meaning. In what follows we must try to learn something about the meanings of endings, as well as their power in determining gender. In a general way, every
or animal
is
Feminine Terminations In English our great feminine ending is -ess actor, actress, etc. In German the corresponding termination is -in Spieler a player, Spielerin a female player. These nouns double the n before adding -en for the plural thus, the plural of Königin is Königinnen. 2. Most abstract nouns in German are feminine: that is, nouns denoting qualities or abstractions, such as truth (Wahrheit), science (Wissenschaft), beauty (Schönheit), gratitude (Dankbarkeit), slavery (Sklaverei'), rescue (Rettung), music (Musik'), harmony (Harmonie'). You will observe that all these nouns are derived from simpler words. Wahr means true, Wahrheit, the quality of being true wissen means to know, Wissenschaft, the quality of knowing. These words are therefore called derivative words. The most common terminations which are used to form feminine derivative nouns are: -ung (Eng. -ing), -heit (Eng. -hood), -schaft (Eng. -ship), -ei (Eng. -y), and -keit (for which we have no English equivalent). 3. The third rule for feminines is of the greatest possible use. All two-syllabled nouns ending in -e, and meaning things without life, are feminine: as die Tasche the pocket. This rule has few exceptions. 1.
:
=
:
=
:
—
;
=
49
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Most nouns 4. The fourth rule is not so important. derived from verbs and ending in -d and -t are feminine. Thus: jagen (to hunt) gives die Jagd (the hunting); fahren (to travel) gives die Fahrt (the journey).
Neuter Terminations -chen and -lein are two terminations which make what are called diminutives of the nouns they are brook, Bächlein little brook attached to. Bach or brooklet Dorf a village, Dörfchen a little village, chen and lein also express endearment, as Väterchen, Mütterchen. These endings make the noun neuter, whatever its gender was before: thus Fräulein, which means a young or unmarried lady (little P'rau), is 1.
=
= =
;
=
neuter. 2, The -en of the Infinitive must be regarded as a neuter termination when the Infinitive is used as a noun. drinking. hunting, das Trinken Thus: das Jagen
=
=
Masculine Terminations T,
Most nouns ending
in -en (excluding Infinitives
and
diminutives) are masculine. 2. Two-syllabled nouns ending in -ich, -ig and -ing are masculine. So far as is consistent with the above rules the following considerations of meaning may be applied in de-
termining gender. Masculine are names of days, months, seasons, stones, winds. Neuter are names of metals (except der Stahl, steel), countries, cities, villages, islands.
Exercise 26
Keeping in view all that has been said, arrange the following nouns into three classes according as they are
50
NON-PERSONAL ELEMENT masculine, feminine or neuter. not across the page.
VERBS
IN
Go down
the columns,
Fürstin, princess Eiche, oak
Blume, flower
Honig, honey Leben, living
Treppe, staircase Regen, rain Edelstein, precious stone
Kindlein,
Eselei, stupid conduct Teppich, carpet Februar, February Gold, gold Übersetzung, translation
baby
Fröhlichkeit, joyfulness Büchlein, httle book Melodie', melody Eisen, iron
Löwe,
Schlacht, battle Garten, garden Griechenland, Greece Stunde, hour JiingUng, youngster Reinheit, purity Paris, Paris Freundschaft, friendship
lion
Sonne, sun Liebling, darling
Väterchen,
little
father
Dummheit, stupidity Helgoland, Heligoland Käfig, cage Tanzen, dancing
Diamant', diamond
Monat, month
Schrift, writing
Pferdchen, little horse Kuchen, cake Union, union
Poesie', poetry
Rauchen, smoking Freitag. Friday
Blümchen,
little
flower
Frau, wife
LESSON IX
NON-PERSONAL ELEMENT it,
IN
VERBS
Not every part of a verb has person. We can say / did or you did it, or they did it. But we cannot use any
pronouns with done. We cannot say I done it, or you done it, or they done it. It is true we can say I But here the personal (or you or they) have done it. pronouns do not belong to the done but to the have. In other words, have is a personal part of the verb; done Done is called the Past Principle, is a non-personal. and can never be used with a personal pronoun without It is for this the help of another verb like have or was.
of these
51
.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN reason that certain verbs
—such
as to have
and
to
he—
are called auxiliary or helping verbs.
In English the most common ending for the Past is -ed he has play-ed, work-ed, arrang-ed, borrow-ed, etc. Here are some examples of English and German Past Participles:
—
Participle
Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle
From
this
loves
plays
liebt
we may
spielt
played spielte played gespielt
loved liebte loved geliebt
says sagt said sagte said gesagt
that most German Past and end with t.
infer
Participles begin with ge
Once we know the Past
Participle of a verb, we can Past tense by the help of have. he has said, or simply he said. Thus: er hat gesagt This tense is called the Perfect, because the action is now complete. Again we may say, er hatte gesagt =» he had said. This is called the Pluperfect tense, because the action was completed at some time now past.
use
it
to
make a new
=
Perfect of lieben
Singular
habe geliebt
1
ich
2.
du hast
3.
er hat geliebt
I.
wir haben geliebt
geliebt
I have loved thou hast loved he has loved
Plural
^3.
{fihr^hlM)}g^^^^b* sie
haben
geliebt
we have loved you have loVed they have loved
Here we see that geliebt remains unchanged. Everything depends upon the personal verb haben. Geliebt, in fact, is hardly a verb at all: it is really a sort of The Germans throw the Past Participle adjective. always away to the very end of the sentence. We The Germans say, he has say, he has said the word.
5»
NON-PERSONAL ELEMENT
IN
VERBS
er hat das Wort gesagt. The child had mother of his friend Das Kind hatte die Mutter seines Freundes geHebt. The Infinitive is another non-personal part of the verb, and is treated in the same unceremonious way by the Germans, who put it at the very end. / will not say that Ich will jenes Wort nicht sagen. Observe that word say is here Infinitive, though the to is omitted, just as the zu is omitted before sagen. The full Infinitive in German is zu Sagen, but the zu is omitted with auxiliaries, Examples will be given later in the Course as here. of the retention of this zu. In English all Past Participles do not end in ed, though that is the regular ending. The following are Past Participles: done, been, drunk, slept, arisen. In the same way all German Past Participles do not begin with ge and end with t, though that is the regular thing. In the following list of verbs the first nine are regular, the last the
word said
loved the
=
six irregular:
Pres. Infin.
:
=
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN You will observe that when the stem of a regularverb ends in -d or -t, an extra e is inserted in the Past and Past Participle. This is for the sake of the sound; your ear will keep you right in this matter. The Use
of the Perfect
This tense is used to express an action that has been going on and is still continuing, or a finished action of For example recent occurrence, or vaguely in the past. Ich habe meine Handschuhe gesucht. for
my
I
have been looking
gloves.
Er hat mir nicht geantwortet. He did not answer me. Der Mönch Schwartz hat das Schiesspulver entdeckt. The
monk Schwartz
discovered gunpowder.
Vocabulary die Frau,
die See, sea der Soldat, soldier das Klavier, piano die Musik, music das Radio, wireless
das Grammophon, gramophone der Stuhl, chair der Teppich, carpet
wireless
gern haben, to like (= have wilhngly) hören, to like (Hstening (to)
baden, to bathe, swim gern rauchen, to Hke smoking zu Weihnachten, at Christmas
der Schnee, snow die Annonce, advertisement der Hund, dog im Winter, in winter in
wife
gem
die Zigarre, cigar die Zigarette, cigarette die Pfeife, pipe
im Sommer,
woman,
das Land, country Klavier spielen, to play the piano Radio hören, to listen to the
on (top of) (with Dat.) on (side of), to (with Ace.) der Wald, wood
auf,
an,
summer
der Stock, stick
Exercise 27
Hast du dem Neffen des Bäckers das Buch des Lehrers Ich habe die Löwen in dem Walde gehört. Hat die Magd die Äpfel nicht gekocht? Mein Bruder hat meinem Vater telephoniert. Ich habe meinem Onkel seinen Stock gereicht. Dieses Mädchen hat
geschickt?
54
PERSONAL PRONOUNS Klavier gespielt. Rauchen Sie gerne (or gern) ZigaretNein, ich rauche immer eine Pfeife. Zu Weihnachten schicken wir unserem Bruder Äpfel, Nüsse, Bücher und Zigaretten. Hören Sie gern Musik an dem Radio? Wir haben in einem Hause in jenem Dorfe gewohnt. Die Soldaten haben die Hauptstadt des Landes verbrannt. Meine Schwester hat die Annonce Wir haben unseren Hund Mops in der Zeitung gesucht. genannt. Welches Buch hat deine Schwester gewählt? Die Soldaten haben keine Frauen und Kinder getötet. Im Sommer haben wir oft in der See gebadet. Die Schüler haben im Winter mit dem Schnee gespielt. Ich ten?
habe Hunde nicht gem. Exercise 28
Have you (du) been dreaming? No, I have been drawing that house. Which book is on your chair? This carpet is very old. I Uke listening to the wireless. Does your father like smoking? Yes, he has always smoked
cigars.
I often
smoke (= smoke
often) cigars
In the summer we have (= have we) at Christmas. Have you sent those visited our uncle in Switzerland. newspapers to Geneva? The baker and his wife have
The tailor has not made their child Margarete. the dress. Otto's sister has been playing the piano, and my brothers have been listening to the music on the wireless. Has the tailor brought the dress? In which shop did you buy (Perfect tense) that hat? Do you like bathing in the sea? I like listening to the gramophone.
named
LESSON X
PERSONAL PRONOUNS He, she and
German they
it
are easily used in English.
require careful watching.
55
We
But in must not
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN but only of the gender of the noun words apply. Talking of the town in German, we must not say jt is fine, but she is fine, since Stadt is feminine sie ist schön. So of a table we must say he is round: er ist rund. Of a maiden (Mädchen) think of sex at
to which these
all,
little
:
but we may also say therefore never use he or she or it without looking carefully at the gender of the noun referred to.
we say
clever: es ist geschickt
it is
In English
;
You must
sie ist geschickt.
we have
these words declined:
Singular
Plural
Masc. Fern. Neut.
All Genders
Nom.
he
Ace.
him
she her
it
they
it
them
Corresponding to these
we have
Singular
the
German forms
Plural
Masc. and Fern.
Masc.
Fern.
Nom.
er
sie
Ace. Dat.
ihn
sie
sie
ihm
ihr
ihnen
sie
saw him, but not her. Ich sah ihn, aber nicht sie. have this book fromliim. Ich habe dieses Buch von ihm. We have sent her a present. Wir haben ihr ein Geschenk I I
gesandt.
Pay careful attention to what we have said about it. The fact is that the English it can be put into German in If it three different ways according to what it refers to. refers to a table (Tisch), it is masculine and is rendered er; if it refers to a street (Strasse), it is feminine and is represented by sie; if it refers to a book (Buch), it is neuter and is rendered by es. All these are Nominative if it is
You
in the Accusative, it is ihn (m.), or sie
will learn the use of these
(f.),
or es
(n.).
words much better from
observing the following examples:
Where
is
Feder?
my
pen
?
Ich sah
I
saw it in your room. Ihrem Zimmer.
sie in
56
Wo
ist
meine
:
PERSONAL PRONOUNS where is it ? Sie hat meinen She has brought my shoe Schuh gebracht wo ist er ? Where is the dog? We have sent it to him. Wo ist der Hund ? Wir haben ihn ihm gesandt. It was my house, but the soldiers have burned it. Es war mein Haus, aber die Soldaten haben es verbrannt. :
:
The pronoun as an object, whether direct (Accusative) or indirect (Dative), precedes a noun object, i.e. it follows the verb. Of two pronoun objects, the direct (Accusative) precedes the indirect (Dative), that is, the opposite order to two noun objects. E.g. Ich schicke es dem Bäcker. Ich schicke es ihm. I send
I it
send
it
to the baker.
to him.
Vocabulary der Baum, tree der Wind, wind die Sonne, sun der Mond, moon der Stern, star der Rasen, lawn das Wetter, weather die Wolke, cloud der Regen, rain der Teich, pond der Nebel, fog der Fluss, river das Wasser, water
bright
hell,
stark, strong
schwach, weak teuer, dear billig,
heiss,
cheap hot
warm, warm kalt, cold
young
jung,
who ? wen ? whom wer
?
wem
to
?
wann
?
(Acc.)
?
whom
when
?
(Dat.)
?
kaum, scarcely
niemals, never
nur. only gestern, yesterday
nichts, nothing
Exercise 29
Ich habe nichts gehört. Gestern war die Sonne ganz warm. hast du den Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas-) geschickt? Ich habe ihn meinem Neffen geschickt. Jene Wolken sind gross und schwarz, sie bringen Regen. Das Wetter ist sehr kalt, und es (= there) ist Nebel auf dem Fluss. Wann haben Sie diesen Anzug gekauft?
Wem
57
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Ich habe ihn gestern in jenem Laden gekauft. War er oder teuer? Er war ganz billig. Die Sterne sind Haben Sie Ihrer Schweklein, aber der Mond ist gross. ster die Armbanduhr geschickt? Ja, ich habe sie ihr Hat dein Vater den Kindern den gestern geschickt. Weihnachtsbaum geschickt? Ja, er hat ihn ihnen gebillig
Es
stern geschickt.
mein Neffe
spielt
Hunde
sind drei
auf
dem Rasen;
mit ihnen. Exercise 30
The sim was not very bright yesterday.
When
did
answer? There were seven or eight sailors on the river. This river is very long. We scarcely heard (= heard scarcely) the children's song. Whom did you visit in Switzerland? These motor-cars are almost too cheap. To whom did you telephone yesterday? Here is your hat. Where did you buy it? I am sending The children have been it {i.e. the hat) to my brother. I have handed them to them. looking for the apples. We never have (= have never) fog in this country. Who answered him? Have you 'phoned to her? Was the wind very strong yesterday? The sky was blue and the clouds were small and white. The water in >'ou
pond was too cold yesterday. We did not bathe. have said nothing to him. She only smiled (= smiled only). We scarcely heard them. the I
LESSON
XI
STRONG VERBS
—
Taking the three parts of the verb the Infinitive, the Imperfect, and the Past Participle we find that most of the verbs with which we have dealt up till now have had
—
the form lieben, liebte, geliebt is what is known as the
This
New
Conjugation.
The
best
58
;
spielen, spielte, gespielt.
Weak Conjugation, or the way to learn the differ^ce
:
STRONG VERBS New and the Old Conjugation is to examine the following list of verbs, and see how they differ from the verbs we have been dealing with between the
Some Verbs
of the Strong or
Old
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN As a test at this stage, arrange the above nineteen verbs in three classes: (i) Those having three different vowel sounds (2) those in which the Infinitive and Past Participle have the same vowel and (3) those in which the Imperfect and the Past Participle have the same vowel. Observe now the full conjugation of the Imperfect, and note how it differs from the liebte type ;
;
Imperfect of Certain Strong or Old Verbs I.
ich
:
STRONG VERBS The change of vowel in the 2nd and 3rd person does not always take place, as we find from kommen, although the verb stossen, to push, has du stöss (es)t, er stösst. The main changes are (i) a is changed into ä (ii) au äu „ „ (iii) e (long) is changed into (iv)
Keeping
e (short)
view
„
„
ie i
that has been said, write out, as above, the Present and the Imperfect of the following six verbs: bitten
in
all
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 31
Die Spinne war gross und dick sie spann ein Gewebe. Die Biene summte; sie flog von Blume zu Blume und suchte Honig. Was frisst die Wespe? Sie frisst Zucker. Die Esel iahten, die Schweine grunzten, die Hunde bellten und die Katzen miauten. Der Knecht ritt auf einem Pferd. Er fütterte die Ochsen, die Schafe und die Kühe. Sein Hund lief mit ihm. Er bellte zu laut. Der Bauer schlug ihn mit seiner Peitsche. Die Bäuerin melkte (or molk) die Kühe in dem Stall. Es sind acht oder neun Knechte auf dem Bauernhof. Sie arbeiten immer. Im Herbst pflügen sie die Felder. Im Frühling säen sie. Der Bauer hiess Herr Braun. Er stand auf (got up) und begann seine Arbeit. Er fuhr in seinem Wagen zu dem Feld. Was ass er? Er ass Brot und trank Tee mit Zucker. Seine Kinder sangen Lieder. Er gab ihnen Äpfel und Nüsse. ;
Exercise 32
The farmer drove to the fields. He took his children. They liked to see (= saw willingly) the cows, sheep and horses in the fields. The boy was called Karl.
He
liked to ride
The donkey
on a donkey.
He gave
it
(= him)
hay.
likes eating sugar.
dog is in the garden. It is big and strong. breaks the flowers. Karl runs after him and strikes him with his whip. The dog barks loudly. The sun The bees are buzzing and flying is warm and bright. from flower to flower. They like honey. Do you like honey? Karl does not see the spider. It is big and fat. Do you like spiders? It has spun a web. Karl's
It
Have you already begun your work? I have broken ^ my watch. Has your uncle given his nephew a watch? Have you (du) drunk your tea? Yes, and I have already eaten
my
bread and honey. ^
Use zerbrechen.
62
:
LESSON PREPOSITIONS
XII
AND WERDEN
With Accusative or Dative
We have had some prepositions that govern
the dative
and some that govern the accusative. But now we must have some that sometimes govern the dative and sometimes the accusative. There are nine of them an, at (with dat.) an, to (with ace.) auf, on, upon hinter, behind in, in or at (with dat.) in, into (with ace.)
neben, besides, near über, over or across vor, before, in front of unter, under or among zwischen, between
The meaning tells us when to use the accusative, when the dative. If there is any motion towards anything implied, then the accusative is used if no such motion is implied, the dative. ;
Er ist auf dem Berge. Er läuft auf dem Berge. Er läuft auf den Berg. Er ging in das Haus. Er war in dem Hause.
He is on the mountain. He runs on the mountain. He runs to the mountain. He went into the house. He was in the house.
Sie sass auf dem Stuhl. Sie sprang auf den Stuhl.
She sat on the chair. She sprang upon the
chair.
With Dative only
To keep matters
common
clear
we had
better repeat the
prepositions that govern only the dative:
aus, out
more
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN With Accusative only ohne, without urn, about, round wider, against
durch, through für, for
gegen, against
With Genitive only anstatt or statt, instead of diesseits,
jenseits,
mittels,
trotz, in spite of
on this side of on that side of
by means
während, during wegen, on account of
of
Observe that all except während have the English equivalent ending in of. This is a good way of remembering which case these prepositions govern. Contraction of Preposition and Article Just as we contract do not into don't, so the Gennans are fond of contracting their prepositions and their articles into
one word.
Thus:
an dem becomes am ans an das „ auf das in
„ „ „
dem
in das
Special (i)
When
to
dative
single
dem becomes beim von dem vom „
bei
aufs
(vor das
im
zu dem zu der
ins
vors)
„ „ „
zum zur
Notes on the Translation of To
shows the receiver of an object, use the without
preposition
(see
also
Lesson
XXIV): Er gab
seiner Schwester das Buch.
He gave the book
to his
sister.
Er schickte Resi (ii)
seiner Mutter.
sent a book to Resi.
He came
:
to his mother.
Motion towards a large object or place (not a
proper name), zu
Er
He
Indicating motion towards a person, zu
Er kam zu (iii)
ein Buch.
lief
N.B.
:
dem Bauernhof. He ran to From ... to = von" ... zu. zu
the farm.
:
PREPOSITIONS
: :
:
:
:
AND WERDEN
Motion towards smaller objects, and sending an
(iv)
letters to persons,
Er ging an das Fenster, an den Spiegel, an die Tür. He went to the window (mirror, door). I wrote a letter to Ich schrieb einen Brief an meine Mutter.
my
mother.
—although one would not usually use an with a pronoun but the dative of the pronoun
in this case,
Ich schrieb ihr einen Brief.
To before a place (proper name), nach:
(v)
We
Wir fuhren nach Spanien, nach Köln.
went to Spain,
to Cologne.
=
To
(vi)
auf in the following cases
Auf
die Post, auf den Markt, auf die Universität, auf die auf die Bank, to the post-office (the market, university, pohce-station, bank). Polizei,
To
N.B.
an die
(into)
When
(vii)
To
the country, auf das Land.
the seaside,
See.
into as well as ^o is implied, in
Er geht
in die Schule, in die Kirche, in die Stadt, ins Kino, He is going to school, to church, to the town, cinema, theatre. ins Theater.
(viii)
To
talk
to,
Ich sprach mit mayor. (ix)
To
sprechen mit
dem
Bürgermeister.
— in order to, um
Er ging
aus,
:
.
um die Pferde zu
.
.
I
was talking
zu (+
füttern.
Infinitive)
He went
the horses. (x)
Note the following
indefinite directions
Nach rechts (links), to the right, to the left. Von oben nach unten, from top to bottom. Von hinten nach vom, from back to front.
65
to the
out to feed
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Vocabulary das Caf^
die Tür, door das Tor, gate die Mauer, wall
das der der das
*
Restaurant, restaurant Park, park Fussgänger, pedestrian
Warenhaus, big stores die Strasse, street die Strassenlampe, street-lamp der Brief, letter der Pohzist, pohceman die Strassenecke, street-corner die Brücke, bridge das Rathaus, Town Hall das Schaufenster, shop- window der Marktplatz, market-place der Briefkasten, letter-box das Gebäude, building schhessen, to shut angestellt,
employed
— — s,
s),«
cafÄ
der Verkehr, die
traffic
Telephonzelle,
telephone-
box Wolkenkratzer, der " scraper
" sky-
*liegen, to lie, be situated kaufen, to buy verkaufen, to sell prachtvoll, magnificent
gefährlich, dangerous führen, to lead, drive, take * wiegen, to weigh verlangen, to ask for be wundem, to admire bezahlen, to pay (for) nach Hause * gehen, to go zu Hause * sein, to be at
home home
strong verbs are marked with an asterisk (*), found in the Appendix, pp
From now on and
(
beim Krämer, at the grocer's das Krankenhaus, hospital
their principal parts are to be
188-192
A Some
care
Note on the
English to put
must be exercised
in translating to put.
Note the following (i) (ii) (iii)
(iv)
In a general way, setzen.
To put a thing standing up (as a vase), stellen, To put a thing lying down (as a book), legen, To put away out of sight, as in a drawer, pocket,
etc.,
stecken, (v)
To put
=
to add (as salt in potatoes,
etc.), •
tun
(hter-
ally to do).
Exercise 33
Unsere Bank liegt zwischen der Post und der MarienIch habe meinem Bruder von einer Telephonkirche.^ 1 die Wand is the surface, die Mauer the thickness. 2 Gen. sing, and Nom. pl. *
die Marienkirche, St. Mary's Church.
PREPOSITIONS
AND WERDEN
telephoniert. Es sind viele Wolkenkratzer in unserer Stadt. Das Gebäude des Völkerbundes war in Genf, in der Schweiz. Es waren Bolschewisten in Russland und Faschisten in Italien und Deutschland. Die Soldaten sind vor dem Tore der Stadt. Es sind Italiener und Spanier. Ich ging ins Restaurant. Ich habe gegessen und Ich kam aus dem Restaurant und ging zum bezahlt. Marktplatz. Ich ging ins Kino. Das Kino war gross und schön, aber es war kein Wolkenkratzer. Im Kino waren Männer, Frauen und Kinder. Ich gehe oft ins Theater. Gehen Sie gern ins Theater? Ich sah ein Krankenhaus neben dem Park. Gegenüber dem Warenhaus (dem Warenhaus gegenüber) war das Rathaus. Dieses Gebäude ist prachtvoll. Ich sagte zu einem Polizisten: " ist ein Briefkasten? " Er antwortete: *' Dort an der Strassenecke." Ich steckte einen Brief in den Briefkasten. Mein Bruder ist bei einem Krämer angestellt. Er verkauft Zucker, Tee usw.^ Hinter dem Rathaus war die Paulskirche. ^ Ich ging unter eine Brücke. Diese Brücke war sehr hoch. Über die Brücke fahren Autos und Pferde. Der Verkehr ist sehr gefährhch für die Fussgänger. zelle
Wo
Exercise 34 I put my book on a chair. The weather was fairly warm. I ran out of the room. I went through the door and into ^ the street. It was dark but the street was quite bright on account of (because of, owing to) the street-lamps. There were eight motor-cars and three horses in the street. I went with my dog round the town. My dog ran between the motor-cars. I went into a telephone box and 'phoned to my sister. She is employed ^
* '
=
usw. und so weiter, and so on, or etc. die Paulskirche, St. Paul's Church. Of persons, vehicles, etc. auf, otherwise in before Strasse.
67
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN I live with my brother opposite the Town Hall. We went to the right and came to a bridge. It was fairly low. We looked down ^ on to the traffic. The traffic since the war is v^ry dangerous. My uncle was in that car. He was driving He has a shop there. He often to the Market Place. Our village drives (= drives often) over this bridge. In front of our house lay on the other side of the river. stood a lamp-post (street-lamp). We went into a restaurant to eat. After the meal ^ I went home without my dog, but I saw him at home, in front of the door.
in a hospital near St. Paul's Church.
There
a very useful
is
little
verb called werden, which
means
to become or to get, in the sense of getting angry or The Present Indicative goes quite easily getting grey. Present of werden Plural
Singular ich
I.
.
2- <1"
wir werden
werde f
.
^'S*
er wird
3.
Sie
werden
lihr werdet sie
werden
The great use of this verb is to form the Future of all other verbs. To make the Future all we have to do is to add the Infinitive of the verb we want to the proper part werden
of
:
I shall
You
Ich werde kaufen.
buy.
werden sprechen. Der Knabe wird lernen. Das Pferd wird laufen.
will speak.
Sie
The boy will learn. The horse will run.
—
we want to have what is called the Future Perfect to express something that will be completely done at some future time we have to use haben along with the If
i.e.
—
Past Participle of the required verb Ich werde gekauft haben. werden gesprochen haben. Der Knabe wird gelernt haben.
have bought. have spoken. The boy will have learnt. I shall
*
You
will
To
look
down
Sie
on, sehen auf (ace).
68
'
The meal, das Essen.
:
PREPOSITIONS The
AND WERDEN
Perfect tense of haben
is
formed
ordinary
in the
way: Ich habe viele Äpfel von diesem many apples from this tree.
But the Perfect tense tense of sein
-f-
of sein
is
Baum
gehabt.
I
have had
formed with the Present
Past Participle
ich bin gewesen, I have been {literally du bist gewesen, you have been, er ist gewesen, he has been, etc.
:
I
am
been),
Vocabulary
um
morgen, to-morrow
halb vier, at half past three
tomorrow morning am Abend, in the evening nächste Woche, next week am Nachmittag, in the afternächsten Sonntag, next Sunday noon Montag, „ Monday abends, in the evening(s) Dienstag, „ Tuesday morgens, in the moming(s) „ Mittwoch ,, Wednes- nachmittags, in the after„ day noon(s)
morgen
„
früh,
Donnerstag, next
bald, soon
Thursday „ „
Freitag, next Friday
früh, early spät, late
Samstag, „ Saturday heute, to-day heute morgen, this morning heute nachmittag, this afternoon heute abend, this evening der Freund, friend das Flugzeug, aeroplane urn zwei Uhr, at 2 o'clock
schnell, quickly
eines Tages, one
day
nächstes Jahr, next year der Bahnhof, station (railway) die
U-bahn (die UntergrundUnderground (rail-
bahn).
way)
Exercise 35
Morgen werde ich zum Marktplatz gehfen. Was werden Sie dort tun? Ich werde zwei drei ^ Pferde kaufen. Sind sie billig oder teuer? Sie sind dieses Jahr ziemlich teuer. Werden Sie mit ^ dem Auto fahren? Heute ist das Wetter sehr kalt. Wir werden bald Schnee haben.
=
two or three. travel by a vehicle, fahren mit.
*
zwei drei
*
To
69
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Was
wird dein Onkel nächsten Dienstag tun? Er wird nach Lissabon ^ fliegen. Heute nachmittag werden wir ins Kino gehen. Gehen Sie gern ins Kino? Meine Brüder werden eines Tages nach Köln fliegen. Heute abend wird meine Schwester Klavier spielen, und Elses Bruder wird Lieder singen. Ich werde die Musik am Radio hören. Ich höre gerne Radio. Gestern habe ich einen Brief von meinem Onkel gehabt. Zu Weihnachten wird er meinem Vater einen Weihnachtsbaum schicken. Er ist letzte Woche in FrankDas Wetter war sehr kalt dort. Sie reich gewesen. haben Nebel und Regen gehabt. Ich bin niemals in Frankreich gewesen. Warst du schon in Paris? ^ Exercise 36
Germany. Will you go by car to London? No, I shall travel by the Underground (by " tube "). What will you do in Germany? Will you go (= travel) I shall visit one or two friends. by air (= with the aeroplane)? No, I don't like travelHave you ever been to Germany?^ Yes, I ling by air. was there last year (= last year there). To which station will you go? To Liverpool Street.* The weather has not been very warm.
Next Friday
I shall travel to
LESSON
XIII
DECLENSION OF ADJECTIVES Words which indicate qualities in connection nouns and pronouns are called adjectives. We already used several of them, such as gut, schlecht, arm, jung. But if you care to look back over exercises you will find that all the adjectives we * "
'
Lisbon. "Were you already in Do not translate.
=
70
have you ever been to
t
with have böse,
your have
:
DECLENSION OF ADJECTIVES used have been used along with some part of the verb We have never used an adjective before a noun. We have said often something Hke the man is good: we have never spoken of the good man. The first way (the man is good) is called the predicative use of the adjective the second (the good man) is called the attributive use of the adjective. In English there is no difference in the form of the word good it is exactly the same in both cases. In German there is a very important difference. In the predicative use the adjective does not change at all. If you look back at all the exercises and examples you will not find any change in to be.
;
:
any adjective.^ But in the attributive use the adjective must be declined so as to agree with its noun in both number and gender.
gut
;
We
Mann
ist gut; ein Mädchen ist Knaben sind gut using the every case. But we must say, ein
say, der
die Stadt ist gut
same word gut
in
;
die
:
Mann; ein gutes Mädchen; die gute Stadt; die guten Knaben. The changes that the attributive adjective undergoes are different according to whether an article is or is not used with it. There are three cases guter
I.
When
the adjective
is
used
without any
ARTICLE. Here the terminations of the adjective are merely the terminations of the definite article as they are changed in the demonstratives like dieser.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Brotes seems to sound better than gutes Brotes in the
German. adjective is used with the definite ARTICLE. Here we have a very pretty form, which is easily remembered as a mental picture of five e's among a crowd of en's. ears of a 2.
When the
DECLENSION OF ADJECTIVES der Grossvater, grandfather die Grossmutter, grandmother (boy) der Vetter ( s, n), cousin die Kusine, (girl) cousin die Tante, aunt das Taschentuch, handkerchief
rein, clean
schmutzig, dirty tragen, to wear, carry
— —
klug, clever, intelligent
dumm,
silly,
stupid
blind, blind
taub, deaf
bequem, comfortable
Exercise 37
Give the Nominative Singular, Genitive Singular and Nominative Plural of the following:
einem grossen Baum, einer kleinen Blume, keinem blinden Manne, einem kleinen Mädchen, welcher breiten Strasse, den starken Hunden, der klugen Kusine, dem tauben Vetter, den hässlichen alten Frauen, kaltem
Winde, demselben schmutzigen Jungen. Exercise 38
Das
Mädchen weint immer. Deutsche Bücher immer schwer. Die kleine Tochter des dicken
traurige
sind nicht
Bäckers gab dem klugen Neffen des alten Schneiders einen Brief. Ein kluger Junge lernt schnell. Die kleinen Kinder spielten auf dem weichen Gras. Sie spielen nicht gern auf der harten Strasse. Der alte Grossvater ist blind, und seine alte Frau ist sehr taub. Das hübsche Mädchen trägt ein neues Kleid mit roten Knöpfen. Karl hat ein reines Taschentuch in der Tasche seines braunen Anzugs. Der Verkehr ist in diesen engen Strassen sehr gefährlich. Zwei blinde Männer gingen mit ihrem weissen Hunde über die breite Strasse. Hübsche Mädchen sind nicht immer dumm. Exercise 39
boys are nearly always dirty. I shall visit an old friend in Geneva. Blind men are not always sad. The narrow streets of the old city were very dark. I do not Hke this uncomfortable old chair. My beautiful Little
73
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN cousin sang French, Spanish and German songs. I like listening to good music on the wireless. The Italian ambassador came to London yesterday (= yesterday to London). Marie's cousin was wearing a green dress and a white hat. Which German book have you chosen?
LESSON XIV RELATIVE
PRONOUNS
Certain pronouns, called relative pronouns, both relate to nouns or pronouns previously mentioned in a sentence,
and join clauses together. The knight who sent it is dead. Here who is a relative pronoun, referring back to knight, and at the same time joining the clause the knight is dead Some people say that who here to the clause who sent it. is equal to and he. There are two ways of translating the relative pronouns into German. The shorter and more frequently used form of the
German
relative is nothing but the definite article with the genitive singular, the genitive and dative plural
changed somewhat. Plural
Singular
Fem. Neut.
Masc.
Nom. der
i
who
whom
which or that das which or that das deren dessen of which
rdie die
Ace.
den
Gen. Dat.
dessen [whose dem J to whom .der
I
All
dem
to which
Genders die die
deren
denen
Note that the dative plural of the relative is denen, to show that it is plural. With the article, den is enough, for the noun shows whether it is singular or plural. Plural
RELATIVE
PRONOUNS
The resemblance
of the above declension to the interrovery plain. The genitive is the case that demands your attention. The Enghsh meanings given above apply only to English nouns. If welches refers to a person it must be translated not which, but who.
gative welcher
is
Das Mädchen, welches (or das) die Eier gekauft The maiden, who bought the eggs, is young.
hat, ist jung.
Die Stadt, die (or welche) er gerettet hatte, war sehr alt. The town, which he had saved, was very old. Er hat einen Teller gekauft, den (or welchen) er in der Stadt gesehen hatte. He has bought a plate, which he had seen in the city.
In
all
these examples you will observe the peculiar
place of the verb in the clause to which the relative belongs.
In
all
these clauses the personal verb
is
put
at the end.
Der Ritter, welchen Ihre Freunde gestern sahen, ist tot. The knight, whom your friends saw yesterday, is dead.
Observe the pimctuation in the examples given: every relative sentence is enclosed between two commas. In English we could, if we liked, leave out the whom, and say only, the knight, your friends saw yesterday, is dead. But in German this is never allowed. The relative
can never be omitted.
The genitive of the come before the noun
relative
must always
to which
it
refers.
in
We
German say in
English, the house the doors of which have fallen. In German this must run, das Haus, dessen Türen gefallen sind. In other words, we must always use in German whose instead of of which. Whose always comes before its noun in English, and takes away the need of the article thus, a coat, of which the sleeve was torn, should be put into German in the form, a coat, whose sleeve was torn. Here the article the is got rid of altogether. When referring to things wo- or wor- followed by a :
75
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN preposition
may
be used instead of the usual relative
pronoun Das Flugzeug, mit dem (or womit) er nach Deutschland The aeroplane in which he was travelflog, verunglückte. ling to Germany crashed.
Was is used to translate which when referring to a whole clause, and also after the following: alles, everything; vieles,
Es
much;
nichts, nothing:
was dem alten Fischer ausserordentlich gefiel. was drizzUng, which pleased the old fisherman im-
rieselte,
It
mensely. Alles,
was ich habe, everything I have. was er sagte, nothing he said.
Nichts,
Vocabulary der der der der der
der Arzt, doctor der Metzger, butcher der Chauffeur, chauffeur die Stenotypistin, shorthand
Kaufmann, shopkeeper Schriftsteller,
author
Kellner, waiter bitten (um), to ask for
typist
der der der der der der der
Schauspieler, actor Filmschauspieler, film actor
Zahn, tooth Zahnarzt, dentist Jäger, huntsman, hunter
werden, to become Seemann werden, to become a
Dieb, thief, burglar Richter, judge
sailor
Briefträger sein, to be a post-
man
Briefträger, postman Schuhflicker, cobbler das Wirtshaus zum "
stehlen, to steal
Roten Löwen," Red Lion Inn das Wirtshaus zur " Blauen Kuh," Blue Cow Inn
heilen, to heal, to cure
der Wirt, landlord, inn-keeper der Film, film die Rolle, roll, part der Kunde, customer das Kindermädchen, nurse-
nach Diktat schreiben, to take
ziehen,
pull,
draw
verhaften, to arrest reparieren, to mend
down treffen, to meet bedienen, to serve spazieren gehen, to go for a
maid
walk spazieren führen, to take for a
der Korb, basket die Schublade, drawer
walk
76
:
RELATIVE
PRONOUNS
Exercise 40
Der Mann, mit dem ich gestern gesprochen habe, ist der Bürgermeister von Brüssel (Brussels). Eine grosse Filmschauspielerin spielt eine Rolle im Film, den wir heute abend sehen werden. Der Wirt des Wirtshauses zum " Roten Löwen " (der Wirt des " Roten Löwen "), in dem (wo, worin) ich gestern den Chauffeur des Filmschauspielers Willi Fritsch traf, ist Seemann (Matrose) gewesen. Der Schuhflicker, der deine braunen Schuhe repariert hat, ist an der Tür. Der Metzger bediente seine Kunden, unter (= amongst) denen die Magd eines grossen Schriftstellers war. Der Korb, in welchem (in dem, worin) sie die Äpfel und Nüsse trug, war ganz neu. Der Zahnarzt, in dessen Haus der Polizist den Dieb verhaftete, hat heute morgen meinen Zahn gezogen. Die Stenotypistin, die diesen Brief nach Diktat schrieb, ist tot.
Exercise 41
have seen from the foregoing how important the relative pronoun is, and how considerably it adds to our powers of self-expression. Descriptions which before were detached and awkward now come more naturally. As an interesting departure from the usual type of exercise the student is asked to rewrite the following pairs of detached sentences, joining each pair by means of a relative pronoun. We will do one as an example
You
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
will
Er fuhr das Auto. He was driving the car. Das Auto schleuderte auf der nassen Strasse.
The
car
skidded on the wet road, Das Auto, das er fuhr, schleuderte auf der nassen Strasse. The car he was driving skidded on the wet road.
I. Der Briefträger hat einen Brief gebracht. Die Schwester des Briefträgers ist unser Kindermädchen. 2. Der Mann ist der Neffe eines grossen Richters. Ich
77
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN habe mit dem Manne gesprochen. 3. Die Schublade war fast leer. Ich sah den Brief in der Schublade. Wir sahen gestern ihren 4. Die Frau ist sehr reich. Mann in der " Blauen Kuh." 5. Der Kellner bediente den Jäger. Der Jäger ist bei einem sehr reichen Kaufmann angestellt. 6. Der Dieb ist der Bruder eines Der Dieb stahl die Armbanduhr einer grosPolizisten. sen Filmschauspielerin. 7. Das Kino war gross und prachtvoll. Ich sah diesen Film in dem Kino. 8. Der Arzt ist nach Ägypten (Egypt) gegangen. Der Arzt hat meinen Neffen geheilt. 9. Die Brüder sind im Krankenhaus. Das Flugzeug der Brüder verunglückte. Exercise 42
The two
girls,
whose father played a great part
film " Michael
in the
Kohlhaas," were listening to the wireless. The letter which I saw in this drawer was from your brother. The nurse-maid who has taken the children The doctor whose nephew for a walk is from Cologne. The I met yesterday cured my sister in Switzerland. house in which he lived had a red roof and a green door. The shorthand typist who took this letter down has a brother who is employed at your uncle's. The man to whom I was speaking yesterday is the landlord of the *' Jolly Farmer." The cafe in which we met him is Everything we saw was white. The •near the post-office. postman has a letter which comes from Russia. At the station we saw (= saw we) the brothers who flew last year to America. The waiter whose brothers stole the actress's car was serving the policeman who arrested them. Nothing he does is very good. The weather was bright and warm, which made our work easy.
78
:
—
:
LESSON XV
ORDER OF WORDS I.
Verb before Subject
If a clause in German begins with an adverb, or an adverbial phrase, the verb and the subject in that clause change places. Yesterday he was ill becomes gestern war er krank. Certain adverbial conjimctions have the power to cause the same change inversion it is usually called in the clauses they introduce. Some of the most common of these are
—
now
also: so, therefore
jetzt or nun,
auch, also, too
kaum, scarcely so, so (= thus)
dann, da, then doch, yet, however
Now
vielmehr, rather
Nun war
he was poor.
Yet she
Doch
killed her friend.
er arm. tötete sie ihren Freund.
We are not to think this a remarkable thing in German. In English we cannot say: Scarcely he was dead', the order must be as in German: Kaum war er tot. 2.
Verb
at
End of Clause
In German, however, this system of changed order is carried further. For all conjunctions which introduce dependent clauses have the pecuHar effect of throwing the personal verb in the dependent clause to the very end of that clause. Some of the commonest of such subordinating conjunctions are als, as,
when
dass, that bis, until sobald, as soon as obgleich, although
(past time)
wenn, when (pres. or wenn, whenever wenn, if ob, if, whether
fut.)
weil,
79
because
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN wie, as, how da, as, since während, whilst
indem, whilst bevor, before so dass, so that
weiss,^ dass die Kinder böse waren. He knows that the children were wicked. Die Mutter war krank, weil ihr Sohn sie sehr schlecht behandelte. The mother was ill because her son treated her very badly.
Er
Do
not forget the
comma!
This
is
most important.
Subordinate Clause -f Main Clause
A
subordinate clause may precede a main clause, whereas a co-ordinate one {i.e. with a conjunction which does not change the word order, Hke und, attd, aber, but, denn, for, oder, or) cannot do so, and when this happens the first rule is appHed, namely, when the subject does not begin the sentence the verb precedes the subject Als er nach Hause kam, sah er seinen Onkel. Wlien he came home he saw his uncle.
Vocabulary der der das der der
Fischer, fisherman Fisch, fish
Boot, boat * See ( s, n), lake Sekretär, secretary ins (or zu) Bett gehen, to go to bed regnen, to rain rudern, to row
— —
müde,
bauen, to build krank, ill die Erkältung, cold *fangen, to catch finden, to find
(illness)
schneien, to snow die Aufgabe, exercise *schliessen, to shut
tired
Exercise 43
Begin each of the following sentences with dann, then, bald, soon, gestern, yesterday, einmal, once, eines Tages, one day, or plötzlich, suddenly: I.
Wir
Ein armer Fischer wohnte
in
diesem Dorfe. 2. am Bahnhof.
trafen die Sekretärin des Schriftstellers
Die Russen bauten neue Schulen und Universitäten. Der Hund lief aus dem Zimmer. 5. Der Schneider kam nach Hause.
3. 4.
^
Pronunciation of Boot
is,
in
phonetic symbols, bolt (see
p. 15).
:
ORDER OF WORDS Exercise 44
Join up each of the following pairs of sentences so as
make one good compound
to
sentence, as this example
shows (i)
(ii) (iii)
Meine Schwester
spielte Klavier.
ing the piano, Ich schrieb einen Brief.
Meine Schwester Brief schrieb.
wrote a
spielte
My
I
wrote a
Klavier,
sister
My
sister
was play-
letter,
während
ich einen
played the piano while
I
letter.
You may find it convenient to use an adverbial conjunction instead of a subordinating one, or you may put your subordinate clause first. I.
Er ging
nicht dort.
ins Hospital. Er war krank. 2. Ich war Er kam nach Hause. 3. Ich werde den
komme nach
Hause. 4. Ich werde Ich gehe ins Kino. 5. Er trägt keinen Mantel. Es ist sehr kalt. 6. Wir hatten eine Erkältung. Wir gingen ins Bett. 7. Er war sehr reich. Er war sehr traurig. 8. Das Mädchen ging ins Bett. Sie lächelte Sie war sehr müde. 9. Ich traf sie. immer. 10. Ich öffnete die Schublade. Ich sah die Taschenuhr. Brief schreiben.
Ich
meinen Freund besuchen.
Exercise 45 It
(=
was raining when the fisherman rowed across He caught no fish {plural), as the
over) the lake.
were not hungry. My children were listening to the children's songs on the wireless while I was writing this exercise. As soon as he comes home he will 'phone you. Did you not shut the doors before you went to bed? When I go ^ to Berlin I shall visit your uncle. As they were not at home we put the letter in the letter-box. It was snowing as we drove to the station. He speaks German, French, English and Italian,
fish
German
*
To go
(in
a
vehicle), fahren (by, mit).
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN although he has never been in these countries.
worked
until it
to the door the
was quite dark.
man
by boat across the
When
the maid
They came
asked for bread and tea. We went although it was quite dark.
lake,
LESSON XVI
OTHER PRONOUNS
We
must now learn the remaining personal pronouns ist Personal
Singular
Nom.
Pronoun Plural
^
:
:
OTHER PRONOUNS Mart can only be used in the nominative. cases the following
pronoun
is
In other
used.
Einer refers indefinitely to a single person or thing
2.
Einer meiner Freunde, one of my friends. Ich gehe zu einem Restaurant, wo die Kellner einen schnell bedienen. I go to a restaurant where the waiters serve one quickly.
The English
on-e is
untranslated in
German
after
an
adjective
habe keine Feder.
Ic]
Have you one? But Hier ist eine :
3.
body,
Haben
Sie eine?
Here
gute.
I
haven't a pen.
a good one.
is
Keiner, niemand. Both mean none, no one, noand keiner also none in speaking of things:
Ich habe kein Brot, und du hast auch keines. I have no bread and you have none also. Niemand (keiner) hat uns gesehen. Nobody saw us.
Both einer and keiner are declined like welcher Niemand takes -s or -es in the genitive, and may (but need not) take -en in the accusative and -em Note.
or dieser.
in the dative.
which
In this respect
it
is
just like jemand,
follows.
4.
Jemand means
5.
Wer means
somebody, someone.
he who, whoever,
and sends the verb
to
the end:
Wer
das gesagt hat, lügt.
He who
(whoever) said that
is
lying.
6. 7.
Nichts, nothing, etwas, something.
Welcher, some, any.
Haben
Ich habe keinen Zucker. sugar.
Have you any
Sie welchen?
I
have no
?
Hast du kein warmes Wasser? Hier ist welches. you any warm water ? Here is some.
83
Haven't
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Pronouns
Indefinite Adjectives or
The following may be used
either as adjectives
or
pronouns manch-, mancher, some, many, many a mehr, more
all, all (i)
ander-, ander, other
(2)
beide, both ein bisschen, a (very) little ein paar, a few
some, any etwas, some, any einige,
Alles
1.
meaning
=
much
viel,
;
(plur.),
many
(4)
wenig, little; (plur.), few (4) keiner von beiden, neither einige or ein paar a few
(plur.) (sing.)
jeder, each, every, each
genug, enough
mehrere, several
=
one
(3)
all,
everything
(it
may even
Which or
everybody).
all,
replace alle
that
{pi.)
after alles
is
rendered by was. with the proper All the may be translated by all ending or by all -f article. Before words Hke his, my, ail need not take an ending: this, etc. '
'
'
'
*
'
was er sagte. Everything he said. stahl all das Geld. He stole all the money. All friends. All meine Freunde.
Alles,
Er
my
All
=
the whole of
Die ganze Stadt. 2.
Other Other
=
der ganze:
All the town.
= different, ander-. = additional, noch (ein).
Buch ist nicht sehr gut. Haben Sie ein anderes? This book is not very good. Have you another one? Hier sind nur zwei Bücher. Haben Sie noch eines? Here are only two books. Have you another (one)? Dieses
3.
Genug
usually follows the
Haben wir Zucker genug ?
noun
Have we enough
sugar?
4. In the singular viel and wenig need not take an ending. A little ein wenig.
=
84
OTHER PRONOUNS Vocabulary die Mahlzeit,
das das das der das
meal
die Karotte, carrot
Frühstück, breakfast Mittagessen, lunch Abendessen, dinner
die
Bohne, bean
die Erbse, pea
das Eis, ice (cream) das Bonbon ( s, s), sweet die Sahne, cream die Kirsche, cherry die Apfelsine, orange die Banane, banana
— —
Kaffee, coffee
Brötchen, roll die Butter, butter der Käse,* cheese die Milch, milk die Suppe, soup der Wein, wine das Bier, beer die Torte, cake der Teller, plate die Kanne, pot der Speiseschrank, food-cupboard, larder die Kartoffel, potato
die Zitrone,
lemon
das Messer, knife die Gabel, fork der Löffel, spoon die Tasse, cup die Dose, bowl, basin, tin pflücken, pluck, gather, pick schläfrig, sleepy
Exercise 46
Der Dieb antwortete mir nicht. Hast du sie nicht am Bahnhof getroffen? Wer hat Ihnen dieses schöne Buch gegeben? Es sind viele Kirschen und Äpfel im Garten. Ja, ich habe sie schon gesehen. Ich werde meinem Freunde welche geben. Meine kleine Schwester bat mich um Bonbons. Ich gab ihr einige, aber sie hat " Noch ein Glas, bitte! " sagte ich sie schon gegessen.
zum Kellner, aber er hörte mich nicht. Zu Weihnachten wird Onkel Fritz uns besuchen. Wir haben noch etwas Butter im Speiseschrank. Essen Sie gern Brötchen mit Butter und Käse? Wir haben keine Apfelsinen mehr. Trinken Sie Kaffee mit oder ohne Sahne? Mit Sahne, wenn Sie welche haben. Beide Brüder (die beiden Brüder) waren dort. Haben Sie keine anderen Bananen? Ich habe noch einige, ^ aber sie sind nicht reif. Ich werde dir ein Eis kaufen, wenn du mir einige Erbsen und Bohnen im Garten pflückst. Hast du noch etwas Tee in der Kanne? Ist jemand an der Tür? Ich sehe nie'
•
2nd Declension. noch einige (plur.), noch etwas
85
(sing,),
some more.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Man hat alles gehört, was du mir gestern Jeder (Ein jeder) im Dorfe hat seinen langen Garten, worin er Kartoffeln, Bohnen, Erbsen, Äpfel, Kirschen usw. hat. Man trinkt viel Kaffee in DeutschIch hatte keinen Teller, aber der Kellner hat mir land. mand
dort.
sagtest.
einen gebracht. Exercise 47
People drink more tea in England. Have you any Yes, I have a little. If you haven't coffee in the larder? enough books I have another one here. Our uncle gave I like oranges. The us some sweets and oranges. huntsman drank another glass of ^ wine. There are some more potatoes in the garden, if you have not enough here. The Spanish girls were picking oranges and lemons, and they gave us some. Have you any milk or cream? The breakfast at the "Blue Cow" was fairly cheap, but the lunch at the " Red Lion " was very dear, and they gave us no coffee. I do not like cheese. Is there any more sugar in the basin? The waiter has brought me another knife, as this one is dirty. For (zum) dinner we shall have cherries and bananas with cream« The waiter will bring you some more soup. Everybody was sleepy but nobody went to bed. All his friends A few sheep were in the field. He are in America. speaks a (very) little German, but no Spanish. Who has eaten all the cherries ?
LESSON AUXILIARIES OF
XVII
MOOD— THE
IMPERATIVE
There are six very important little verbs that now claim attention. They are generally used along with the Infinitives of other verbs, and so are called Auxiliaries. *
Of in such expressions
86
is
omitted.
AUXILIARIES OF
MOOD
tell us something about the mode or manner which an action is to be done, they are often called the Auxiliaries of Mood. You have already come across three of them in your reading.
Since they in
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN instead of the Past Participle in the Perfect tenses. I have been obHged to wait " runs ich habe warten
Thus "
müssen.
The Imperative
When we order or command we are said to use the Imperative mood. Tanzen is to dance, tanze is the order dance! if given to one person, tanzet if to more than one person. These two forms are used only in addressing near relations, intimate friends and children. The ordinary form of the Imperative, both in speaking to one person and to several persons, is tanzen Sie! Singular (familiar)
AUXILIARIES OF
MOOD
mit
dem Zug
eine Bootfahrt, a boat trip die Taxe 1 ^""^ die Autodroschkej
immediately rückwärts, backwards gut, good or well besteigen, to board winken, to beckon, signal verlassen, to leave rufen, to call, shout das Fahrrad, bicycle auf dem Fahrrad fahren, to cycle
gleich,
Rad
fahren,* to go
by
train
fahren, to cycle
das Flugzeug, aeroplane der Reifen, tyre der Verkehrsschutzmann, traffic policeman zu Fuss gehen, ^ to go on foot
versäumen, to miss platzen, to burst steigen, to mount, climb *halten, to stop in Ordnung, in proper order parken, to park (vehicle) das Parken ist verboten, parking is forbidden überholen, to overtake
*scheinen, to shine, to langsam, slow, slowly eilen, to hurry sonst, otherwise fragen, to ask der Weg, way böse, bad
seem
Exercise 48
Der Vater sagte zu den Kindern: "Wollt ihr heute abend eine Autofahrt nach Berlin machen? " " O ja, Sie mussten ihre neuen gerne! " riefen die Kinder. Anzüge tragen, weil sie ihre Kusinen und Vettern in Sie konnten das Haus nicht vor Berlin besuchen sollten. drei Uhr verlassen, weil die Mutter nicht fertig war. " Kann ich nach Berlin auf dem Rad fahren? " fragte der junge Karl. " O nein! " antwortete der Vater. " Auf dem Rad geht es viel zu langsam. Du musst mit uns
kommen." Der Vater kann sehr gut sie alle fertig. " Ich muss mehr Benzin kaufen," sagte er, " der Benzinbehälter ist fast leer." Also hielten sie an einer Tankstelle. Dann kamen sie zu einer Strassenkreuzung. Dort war rotes Licht und sie mussten warten. Herrn Schmidts Auto kann sehr gut steigen und sie fuhren sehr halb vier waren schnell auf dem Wege nach Berhn. Bald waren
führen.
Um
speaking is to walk, and when a vehicle Gehen mentioned or implied, fahren should be used. To travel by a vehicle is in German to drive with. ^
strictly
'^
89
is
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Dort sahen Sie einen armen Motorradfahrer, sie in Berlin. der einen geplatzten Reifen reparierte. Auf den breiten Strassen Berlins sahen sie Autobusse, Elektrische, Autos, Taxen und Fahrräder. Dort ist der Verkehr sehr gefährlich. Sie fuhren in eine Einbahnstrasse, also haben sie rückwärts fahren müssen. Über der Stadt sahen sie ein Viele grosses Flugzeug, das nach Amerika fliegen sollte. Fussgänger eilten über die Strasse, und es war gut, dass Aber sie konnten immer die Hupe in Ordnung war. «iemlich schnell fahren und überholten viele andere Autos. Dann hielt das Auto, und Herr Schmidt winkte einem Verkehrsschutzmann. Er hat nach ^ dem Wege Bald aber waren sie vor dem Hause fragen müssen. des Onkels. Exercise 49 if you want to. I am to the dentist this evening. May ^ I smoke here? He T will ^ take my dog for a walk in the park. was to fly to Paris yesterday (= yesterday to Paris), We had to walk home. but suddenly became ill.
You can go
to
BerUn
visit
As he could not speak German he took me with him. You are to go immediately to bed. German Shall * is spoken here (= here one speaks German). You are to talk to (= to speak with) I buy some bread? nobody. We could not see the aeroplane on account May we go to the cinema this evening? of the fog. We had to go by taxi. If the weather is warm you may bathe in the lake this afternoon (= this afternoon in the lake always Time before Place). We want to see your cows and sheep. I cannot tell you (it). As my brother is unable to visit you, he is sending you a letter.
—
1 To ask for = to demand, bitten um; = to inquire about, fragen nach. * May in questions and negative statements use dürfen. ä When will means want to rather than just a future action, use wollen. * When shall has the meaning of am I to. use sollen. :
90
AUXILIARIES OF
MOOD
Exercise 50
Take (=
Let us go a walk round the town. I have had ^ to go to Berlin. She has had to leam Spanish. They have not been able He is to leave London to-morrow to find your book. (Time before Place!). Have you (du) been able to see He would not (= did not want to) answer. this film? My sisters had to go by air (= travel with the aeroplane). I cannot speak Swedish. Can she speak Dutch ? We have not been able to send you many apples, as the summer has been too bad. We could not travel very quickly, on account of the fog. You can go by bus to the station. Will you sing us a song? I cannot sing, as I have a bad carry) this letter to the post.
for
cold.
Exercise 51
bringen Sie uns zwei Glas* Bier,
Kellner,^
bitte!
Chauffeur, fahren Sie schnell zum Bahnhof! Geben Sie mir bitte ein Eis. Gehen wir ins Kino! Bitte, wiegen Sie diesen Brief für mich! Reichen Sie mir bitte den Zucker! Lasst uns heute abend ins Theater gehen!
öffnen
Sie
bitte
die
(den Polizisten) nach
Tür!
den Schutzmann Wir wollen morgen
Frage
dem Wege!
nach London gehen! Bitte, sagen Sie mir, wo ich eine Taxe finden kann. Kaufen Sie mir einige Zigaretten! Geben Sie mir eine Londoner Zeitung! * I have had to may be rendered either by ich habe . sollen or ich habe . müssen. Sollen implies duty or obligation, müssen indicates necessity. • Recently it has become customary to address a waiter as Ober or Herr Ober (Oberkellner, strictly speaking, is the head waiter, but in calUng a waiter this form of flattery is adopted.) ' Notice that in such expressions, where the English of is omitted, a masculine or neuter noun does not take the plural form. feminine noun does, e.g. .
.
I
.
.
!
A
zwei Flaschen Wein, two bottles of wine (die Flasche,
bottle).
: :
LESSON
AND INSEPARABLE VERBS
SEPARABLE I.
XVIII
The Separable
Prefix
In English we have the word upset. This is composed of two separate words, up and set. But we cannot separate these words without changing the meaning of the whole. Set up means something very different from upset.
Now
in
of a verb
German we have two kinds of verbs made up and another word. To the first class belong
what are
called separable verbs, because the two parts can be separated; the others are called inseparable, because the two parts must always be kept together.
The
peculiarities of separable verbs are these In the Present and Imperfect Indicative and in the Imperative the separable little word is taken away from the front of the verb and put at the end of the sentence. Thus, zurückkommen means to come hack so we have the sentence, da kamen wir nach London zurück. In the 1.
;
same way, kommen
Sie zurück means come hack. In the Past Participle and in the Infinitive the ge- and zu- are put between the two parts of separable 2.
verbs, losgelassen
and zurückzukommen.
zurückzukommen
= he wished to come
Er wünschte
back.
3. In pronouncing the word more stress is laid upon the separable part, thus: zuriick'kommen, los'lassen. Here are some separable verbs to practise on
ankommen,
*einsteigen, to get in (vehicle) wegnehmen, to take away abreisen, to set out
to arrive
aufstehen, to get up ausgehen, to go out fortfahren, to go on
zumachen, to shut
be noted that separable verbs do not separate I come back soon ich komme bald zurück. But for " if I come back soon " we write, wenn ich bald zurückkomme. It is to
their prefix unless in independent sentences.
=
9«
— SEPARABLE
AND INSEPARABLE VERBS
The Inseparable
2.
The very
—
Prefix
fact that certain verbs are called separable
leads us to expect that certain other verbs are called
Those inseparable verbs are made up of but the prefixes are never separated from the rest of the verb. The prefixes that cannot be separated from the rest of the verb are: inseparable.
two parts
be-,
just like the separable,
emp-, ent-,
er-,
ge-,
hinter-,
miss-,
ver-,
voll-,
wider-, zer-. •behalten, to keep empfangen, to receive entscheiden, to decide erschrecken, to be frightened
liinterlassen, to leave missfallen, to displease vergessen, to forget vollbringen, to accomplish
widerstehen, to resist zerbrechen, to break
(vor, at)
gebrauchen, to use, to employ
Besides the quality which gives
them
their
name
—that
of retaining the prefixes joined to the verb in all cases
these inseparable verbs have the following three characteristics : 1.
They do not admit
Participle.
We
of the prefix ge- in the Past say ich habe vergessen (not gever-
gessen). 2.
The zu
of the Infinitive
is
put before the
prefix:
as zu misshandeln. 3.
The accent
is
placed not on the prefix but on the
root part of the verb.
3.
Some
Special Cases
There are four prefixes durch-, über-, imter- and umthat give a good deal of trouble, because they are sometimes separable and sometimes inseparable. The test is: Does the preposition have its usual meaning along with the verb? If it has, the compound if it has not, the compound is is a separable verb; an inseparable verb. Umgehen may mean " to go about/*
—
93
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN " to lounge about," " to go round." In these cases umhas clearly retained its ordinary meaning, so it is separable. I go about with my neighbour ich gehe mit meinem Nachbar um, i.e. I associate with him. But umgehen also means to elude, to avoid. Here um- has not its literal meaning: it is used figuratively, so the verb is inseparable. I avoid it ich umgehe es. In actual speech the separable forms accent the durch-, über-, unter- and um-, the inseparables accent the root Thus: ü'bersetzen of the verb. to set over; über-
=
=
=
se'tzen
=
to translate.
The inseparables form one class of verbs that do not have ge- in the Past Participle. There is another, and If any new verb comes into rather an important class. Enghsh we at once make it into a regular verb by adding -ed for both Past and Past Participle: Telegraph, telegraphed, telegraphed. The Germans just as naturally make the verb end in -ieren and we have telegraphieren, telegraphierte, telegraphiert; so with telephone: telö-
phonieren, telephonierte, telephoniert. Most new German verbs, especially those derived from the classical languages
and from the French, end in -ieren and all German verbs ending in -ieren have no ge- in the Past Participle, and have the ordinary -te in the Past studieren, studierte, marschieren, marschierte, marstudiert = to study; The reason for the omission of the schiert = to march. ge- is that in these verbs, and in inseparable verbs, the ;
:
syllable is not accented. Notice carefully the order of the separable prefix:
first
Ich gehe Ich ging
jeden Tag aus.
:
SEPARABLE AND INSEPARABLE VERBS The
Particles
Hin and Her
These particles are frequently added to form a compound with the verb or with a separable prefix in order further to define the direction.
Hin expresses a direction away from the point of view, her a movement towards it. Everything depends on the point from which we " project " the description. For instance, if we describe a man walking along the street and say he entered a house, we may take the point of view of the man in the street and say hin, or the point of view inside the house and say her. These particles are very important and should be constantly studied and practised. Note the following:
(Kommen
Sie) herein
!
Come
in
(Einkommen
!
is
to come
in, enter.)
Gehen Sie hinaus Go out (Ausgehen, to go out.) Wir gingen die Strasse hinauf. We went up the street. Er kam die Strasse herunter. He came down the street. !
!
It follows that a person going anywhere will himself say hin, as he must be going to a place away from him, and a verb like kommen usually takes her.
The
English there and where
These particles are often used to complete the sense of direction, a fine point that
The words
and where
is
often lacking in English.
are therefore dort
(da) or dorthin (dahin), wo or wohin, according as the meaning is there (in that place) or thither (to that place), or where (in what place) or whither (to what place) there
Wohin gehen
Sie
going? Wo ist das Buch ? Er ging dorthin.
(Wo gehen Where
is
Sie
hin)
?
Where
the book ?
He went there. Er steht dort. He is standing there. Er legte das Buch hin. He put the book down. Der Junge
fiel
hin.
The boy
95
fell
(down).
are you
!
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Vocab ulary das der der der
Gepäck, luggage Träger, porter
Gepäckraum, cloak-room Erfrischungsraum, refresh-
ment-room der Schaffner, guard die Lokomotive, engine der Wagen, carriage das Abteil, compartment das Raucherabteil, smoking
compartment das
non-
Nichtraucherabteil,
smoking compartment der Schalter, ticket-office die Rolltreppe, escalator die Karte, ticket platform die Bahnsteigkarte, ticket Hinfahrtskarte, die
single
(ticket)
die
Rückfahrkarte,
return
(ticket)
die Verbindung, connection
der Speisewagen, dining-car lassen, to leave (thing) •verlassen, to leave (person or
vacant
besetzt, occupied, taken
abholen,
ankommen,
to arrive
abfahren, to leave, depart aussteigen, to alight
place) frei, free,
sonst, otherwise der Automat, ticket-machine der Gepäckwagen, luggage-van der Platz, place, seat der Abort, lavatory der Gang, corridor das Netz, rack der Ausgang, exit der Wartesaal, waiting-room der Bücherstand, bookstall der Bahnsteig, platform " das Trinkgeld, " tip der Koffer, suit-case das Köfferchen, attache-case der D-Zug, through train der Zuschlag, extra (charge) der Schlafwagen, sleeping-car der Aufenthalt, stop der Fahrplan, timetable der Schnellzug, fast train der Eckplatz, corner-seat eintreten, to enter einsteigen, to enter (vehicle) hinauslehnen, to lean out
to
meet
(from
the
station)
fahren, to run
(of trains)
pfeifen, to whistle rechtzeitig,
Einsteigen! please
punctual (ly) Take your seats,
umsteigen, to change holen, to fetch versäumen, to miss verspätet, delayed, late zeigen, to show furchtbar, terribly All change Alles umsteigen !
zurückkommen,
to
!
come back,
return
zurückgehen, to go back, return gähnen, to yawn hinsetzen, to put down lesen, to read Exercise 52
Müllers ^ wollten nach Köln fahren. Sie suchten einen Schnellzug im Fahrplan. Ihr Gepäck war ganz fertig. 1
The
Müllers.
96
SEPARABLE AND INSEPARABLE VERBS Sie fuhren mit der Taxe zum Bahnhof. Herr Müller kaufte die Karten am Schalter. Sie mussten zum Bahnsteig neun eilen. Der Gepäckträger trug das Gepäck. Hilde kaufte einige Bonbons und Frau Müller wählte vom Bücherstand einige Zeitungen. Da der Zug verspätet war, warteten sie ein bisschen im Wartesaal. Dann fuhr der Zug herein. Der Träger setzte das Gepäck in den Gepäckwagen und Herr Müller gab ihm ein Trinkgeld. Sie stiegen alle in ein leeres Abteil hinein. Hilde und Max wählten die Eckplätze, da sie zum Fenster 'hinaussehen wollten. Herr Müller legte sein Köfferchen auf das Netz. Die Lokomotive pfiff und dann fuhren sie ab. Da sie in einem Raucherabteil waren, begann Herr Müller zu rauchen. Er raucht gern Zigaretten. In Aachen ^ halb eins gingen sie den mussten sie umsteigen. Gang entlang ^ zum Speisewagen. Nach dem Mittagessen gingen sie zu ihrem Abteil zurück. Max musste zum Abort gehen, weil seine Hände furchtbar schmutzig waren. Herr Müller gähnte. Er war müde und begann zu schlafen. Als sie rechtzeitig in Köln ankamen, stiegen sie schnell aus. Auf dem Bahnhof sahen sie
Um
Onkel Otto und Tante Gisela. Ein Träger holte ihr Gepäck vom Gepäckwagen. Herr Müller gab die Karten ab und sie verHessen den Bahnhof. Sie fuhren eine lange, enge Strasse hinauf
Onkels an.
müde und
Sie traten ins
und kamen am Hause Haus hinein. Sie waren
des alle
hungrig.
Exercise 53
Give me three singles for (nach) Stettin, please! Do not lean out of the window! Porter, take my luggage to the fast train for Cologne, please. Driver (Taxi), drive quickly to the station, otherwise I shall miss the *
Aix-la-Chapelle.
*
Entlang, along, follows the noun in the accusative.
97
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Must I change in Aix-lahouse at half-past six.^ All the We returned last Monday to seats were occupied. The Is there (omit there) a seat vacant for me? Berlin. through-train leaves at 9.30.^ Aunt Marie met her at (von) the station. Did you miss the connection at Kassel? A tall man entered the room and spoke to me. My hat is in the dining-car. If you travel by this fast Put your case down. train you will have to pay extra. Where are you going? Where have you put your train for Coblence (Koblenz). I left the
Chapelle?
gloves?
Where
are the tickets?
LESSON XIX
CARDINAL NUMBERS
We have already had the numbers from one up to twenty. Now we must have the others. Old-fashioned people among ourselves still say five-and-twenty for 25. This is the regular way in German. 21
einundzwanzig
22 zweiundzwanzig
dreiundzwanzig vicrundzwanzig fünfundzwanzig sechsundzwanzig 27 siebenundzwanzig 28 achtund zwanzig 29 neunundzwanzig 30 dreissig 23 24 25 26
31 einunddreissig 40 vierzig 42 zweiund vierzig
50 53 60 64 70 75 80 86 go 97 100
fünfzig
dreiundfünfzig sechzig (note the s omitted) vierundsechzig siebzig
fünfundsiebzig achtzig sechsundachtzig neunzig
siebenundneunzig hundert loi hundert und eins 102 hundert und zwei
The hundreds go quite regularly, zweihundert, dreihundert, vierhundert, and so on. So with the thousands 2 000, dreitausend Tausend i 000, zweitausend 3 000, etc. In a general way a hundred and a thousand
=
*
um
=
=
halb sieben.
*
um
halb zehn.
—
:
ORDINAL NUMBERS and tausend without the ein. But we want to speak of one hundred or one thousand we say einhundert and eintausend (one word in each case)
are simply hundert if
respectively.
A
milUon
is
eine Million (with accent on
the on).
Here follow some examples in
of big
numbers expressed
words: 123 = hundert dreiund zwanzig. 947 = neunhundert siebenundvierzig. 304 = dreihundert und vier. I 032 = (ein) tausend zweiunddreissig. I 870= (ein) tausend achthundert siebzig or achtzehnhundert (und) siebzig. I I
900 = (ein) tausend neunhundert or neunzehnhundert. 563 825 = eine Million fünfhundertdreiundsechzigtausend achthundert fünfundzwanzig.
Hundert and tausend when used alone {i.e. not as and form their plural nominative and accusative by adding -e and dative by adjectives) are regarded as nouns,
adding -en.
The simple
arithmetical processes are as follows
zweimal drei drei
ist
sechs
und
neun
vier ist sieben geteilt durch drei ist drei
dreissig weniger
zwanzig
ist
zehn
=»2 X "=3 +
3 •= 6
=7 =3 — 20= 4
=9-^-3
=
30
10
ORDINAL NUMBERS The numbers we have been dealing with up are called cardinal numbers, because all other
hinge
upon them
cardo,
cardinis,
being
till
now
numbers
Latin
for
a hinge. But we sometimes want to express the order in which things occur, and then we use what are called the ordifial numbers first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
—
You
first three end differently from the rest. Just as we make a cardinal number into an ordinal by adding -th, so the Germans do the same thing by adding -te. Thus vierte, fünfte, sechste, and so
etc.
note that the
all
99
:
;
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN on up to neunzehnte, ist and 3rd are irregular, erste and dritte 2nd is quite regular, zweite. From 20 onwards all the numbers add -ste: 20th = ;
=
zwanzigste 90th neunzigste looth =^ hundertste i,oooth tausendste. But if a large number ends with a German number between one and nineteen inclusive it ends in -te: 112th hundertundzwölfte; 1,010th tausendundzehnte. The -te or the -ste are the ordinary endings of adjectives, and only the parts of numbers which have these terminations are declined. ;
;
;
=
=
=
He has chosen the Mann gewählt. His
fifth
Er hat den hundertundersten
loist man.
attempt, sein fünfter Versuch.
There are certain very useful terminations used connection with numbers 1.
when added means of so many kinds
-erlei
dreierlei, achterlei, hunderterlei
=
of all kinds
vielerlei
;
:
zweierlei
kinds, of three
hundred kinds respectively;
kinds, of eight kinds, of a allerlei
= of two
in
= of
many
kinds.
=
einmal once; -mal means so many times: ten times tausendzehnmal fünfmal five times mal a thousand times. 2.
=
=
;
;
—
3.
also
-fach means means simple)
so ;
many
vierfach
fold:
=
=
einfach
fourfold
onefold
hundertfach
;
(it
=
a hundredfold. 4. -ns when added to the ordinal numbers gives meanings corresponding to our " -ly " in numbers:
erstens
= firstly
;
zweitens
= secondly
sechstens
;
and so on. -tel when added
=
sixthly,
to the ordinals gives the forms 5. the third corresponding to our fractions das Drittel the sLxth. das Sechstel das Viertel the fourth For anything above 19 the ending is -stel das Dreissigdreifünf Siebentel drei Viertel stel. | I zehn Zwanzigstel.
= =
:
=
;
:
=
;
=
;
H=
DATES AND LETTERS In order to deal with dates we must learn the names days of the week and the months of the year. the year Das Jahr der Monat the month die the week. Woche of the
=
=
;
;
=
May
Mai
June
Juni
September Septem'ber October Okto'ber
January February
Januar Februar
March
März
July
Juli
April
April'
August
August'
Sunday Sonntag Monday Montag
Tuesday
November Novem'ber December Dezem'ber
Dienstag
Thursday Donnerstag
Wednesday Mittwoch
Friday Saturday Samstag or Sonnabend
Freitag
Our English way of saying of a Sunday or on Sundays represented in German by merely adding an -s to the day of the week we refer to. On before a day of the week is translated an dem, conis
=
tracted into am am Samstag on Saturday am Sonntag = on Sunday. The words for the months and days are all mascuHne in German, as are also the words for the four seasons. :
;
Autumn, der Herbst Winter, der Winter
Spring, der Frühling
Summer, der Sommer
In before a month or a season is translated by in dem, contracted into im im Juli in July im Frühling :
=
=
;
in spring.
But
if
use am.
we
express a particular day of the
month we
Thus:
the 5th of November, am fünften November. the i8th of June in the year 1815, am achtzehnten Juni im Jahre achtzehnhundert fünfzehn.
On On
Dates are also expressed by the accusative of the without a preposition, as: den vierten Juli on the 4th of July. The hours of the day are represented by a numeral and the feminine word Uhr always in the singular: 11 o'clock article
=
:
.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN
=
Uhr: 4 o'clock
elf
means
=
direction towards
vier Uhr.
We know
and nach means
after,
that auf so
we
are
not surprised to find that ein Viertel auf sechs and ein Viertel nach fünf mean the same thing: a quarter past Similarly, drei Viertel auf drei and ein Viertel vor five. Scottish drei both can stand for a quarter to three. students will recognise an old friend in the phrase halb vier half-four: this means half towards four, and thereThe most usual way with fore means half-past three. minutes is to use the number with nach up to the halfhour past, and the number with vor from the half-hour up to the next hour. Thus: 4.25 p.m. will be nachmittags um fünfundzwanzig Minuten nach vier; 4.35 a.m. will be morgens um fünfundzwanzig Minuten vor fünf. When anything is done at a certain time we use at 10 o'clock. the preposition um, as um zehn Uhr The question, What o'clock is it? is put Wieviel Uhr ist es ? The student should endeavour to get into touch with a German living in Germany who would be willing This gives an added interest to correspond with him. to his studies and by correcting each other's mistakes
=
=
the correspondence can be beneficial to both sides. How to begin a letter: (Die Adresse)
den
15. Juli 1938.
(Die Anschrift):
Lieber Karl
Mein
Dear Charles,
!
lieber Heinrich
!
My
dear Henry,
Liebe Käthi!
Dear Kathleen,
Meine
My
liebste Ottilie!
dearest Ottilie,
Not SO intimate Lieber Herr Klein? Liebe Frau Schmidt! Sehr geehrtes Fräulein Braun! Geehrter Herr Doktor!
Dear Dear Dear Dear
Mr, Small, Mrs. Smith, Miss Brown,
Doctor
i .
Besten (Schönen) Dank für Ihren Brief (Ihre Karte) vom 3. März. Many thanks for your letter (card) of the 3rd March
:
:
DATES AND LETTERS vom 9. April habe ich gestern I received your interesting erhalten. Besten Dank Many thanks. letter of the 9th April yesterday. Ich lege Ihnen hiermit ein neues Bild von mir (von meinem Haus, von meinem Hund) bei. I enclose a new photo «i myself (of house, my dog). Ihren interessanten Brief
!
my
How
to
end a
letter:
Mit schönem Gruss an Sie und Ihre werte Frau, with best wishes to you and your wife. Meine Schwester lässt Sie herzlich grüssen, my sister sends you her kind regards. Mit den freundlichsten Grüssen, with sincerest wishes. In der Hoffnung, bald im Besitz Ihrer Antwort zu sein. Hoping to get your answer shortly.
Yours truly
Ihr (Stets Ihr), N.
N.
More formal and
business-like
Yours
Hochachtungsvoll,
=
I
How
wenden
=
faithfully,
B.
J.
b.w. bitte N.S. (or RS.)
(sincerely),
!
J.
=
B.
P.T.O.
P.S.
to address the envelope
Herrn O. Hasenwinkel, Recklinghau sen, Kellerstrasse 13.
Fraulein Ottilie Weissdorn, bei Herrn Dr. Leineweber, Rostock, Wilhelmstr. 10. Please forward. Bitte nachsenden EUt sehr Urgent Wenn unbestellbar, zurück an N. In case of non-deliver5\ please return to N. !
1
1
103
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN
W
(C)
;
COMPARISON the
Germans
(in
the case of monosyllables) generally
modify the vowel if it happens to be a, o, or u. When more than two things are compared, we use what is called the Superlative degree of the adjective. This is indicated in English by the ending -est, as in strongest) the German ending is practically the same as it is -st. Thus strongest should be stärkst, but since the Superlative is always used with the article or some demonstrative word it never in practice ends baldly in -st, but must have the usual termination of an adjective used attributively.
in English
;
:
Der stärkste Mann, the strongest man. Mein stärkster Freund, my strongest friend. Dieser
Mann
ist
am
stärksten, this
man
is
strongest.
When an adjective ends in d, t, s, ss, sch or z, or a vowel, there is an e put in before the st, making it exactly like English hart hard härtest hardest
=
:
treu, faithful, treuest,
most
;
=
faithful.
The ordinary form of the adjective is called the so we have the following table drawn up under
Positive
;
three heads:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN The following one-syllabled adjectives do Umlaut in comparison: false
not take the
COMPARISON
am besten form is used when there no comparison with other things in the same
It is plain that the is
really
sentence.
It states that the quality of the adjective
exists in the highest degree in the subject of the sentence.
In this form there
is
no noun implied as following the form there is an
adjective, whereas in the der beste
implied noun: der gerade
Weg
ist
der beste (Weg).
There are three kinds of comparison, each of which deserves attention: 1. Comparison indicating equality: by (eben) so . . . wie. I
this is expressed
am
as gocxi as you. Ich bin so gut wie Sie. as brave as his father. Der Knabe tapfer wie sein Vater.
The boy was
Comparison involving
2.
quality indicated
by the
the form nicht so
.
.
.
war ebenso
inferiority in respect of the
In this case we use the eben is omitted.
adjective.
wie
i.e.
;
You
are not so bad as she. Sie sind nicht so schlecht wie sie. not as clever as his sister. Er ist nicht so geschickt wie seine Schwester.
He
is
Comparison involving superiority
3.
in respect of the This is the commonexpressed by the ordinary comparative
quality indicated est form,
followed
and is by als.
by the
adjective.
The son was stronger than
his father.
Der Sohn war stärker
als sein Vater.
4.
When two
form with mehr
He
The
is
more
adjectives refer to the is
sly
same
subject, the
usual:
than
Er
clever.
ist
mehr schlau
als klug.
peculiar expression, the so-and-so the so-and-so,
expressed in
German by
je
.
.
.
older a man is the wiser he desto klüger ist er.
The
desto or je is.
.
.
Je älter ein
.
is
je.
Mann
ist,
Note the construction; je requires the verb to be thrown to the end, desto requires inversion of verb.
107
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN The more the better, je mehr desto besser. The longer the better, je länger je lieber.
When there is only one the with the comparative rendered by desto or urn so. The
better for you, desto besser für Sie, or
um
it is
so besser für
Sie.
The Adverb
Many adverbs
(saying
how a
same form as the corresponding Das Mädchen Das Mädchen
f
1 beautifully
done) have the :
schön. The girl is beautiful. The girl writes beautifully. schreibt schön. ist
is
\more
beautifully
I most
another absolute form, aufs beste
Sie sang aufs beste.
Four
is
The Comparison of the Adverb ram schönsten r schöner
schön
There
thing
adjectives, e.g.
beautifuDy :
She sang as best she could.
irregular adverbs are
worth learning here
COMPARISON Exercise 55
From the following "
skeletons "
make up comparisons,
thus: Die Maus, klein, der Hund. Die Maus ist kleiner als der Hund.
London,
Die Erde, Die Themse, lang, der Rhein. Paris, Rom. Das Gold, hart, das Eisen. Die Stadt, alt, Die Luft, schwer, das Wasser. Der gross, das Dorf. Die Katze, falsch, der Hund. Elefant, stark, der Mann. Der Knabe, klug, das Mädchen. Der Schmetterling, schnell, die Schwalbe. Die See, tief, der See. Der Eiffelturm, hoch, der Kölner Dom. klein, die
gross, die Vereinigten Staaten.
Sonne.
Exercise 56
kosten diese Äpfel? Sind diese Kirschen Diese sind am teuersten. Marie teuerer als jene dort? Ottilie singt schön, ist das netteste Mädchen im Dorf. Hilde singt schöner, aber Else singt am schönsten. Welcher Junge ist am klügsten? Otto ist der klügste, aber Konrad ist fast ebenso klug. Ist Belgien nicht so Dieses Mädchen ist ebenso hübsch gross wie Holland? wie ihre ^ Schwester. Je älter ein Mann wird, desto weniger kann er lernen. Ein höherer Baum als jener ist Können Sie Deutsch sprechen? Ja? in unserem Garten. so besser. Je früher wir ankommen, desto länger werden wir warten müssen. Je mehr er trank, desto durstiger wurde er. Diese Fahrräder sind am besten. Otto ist der grösste Junge in der Klasse. Es ist angenehmer hier im Garten als im Hause. Irmgard ist Wir müssen vorsichtiger durch fleissiger als ihr Bruder. diesen Nebel fahren. Diese Kirschen sind die süssesten. Der Garten sieht im Sommer hübscher aus als im Winter. Wieviel
Um
^
mon
Grammatically, seine should be used« but ihre with das Mädchen and das Fräulein.
109
is
more com-
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 57
The more The water is
industriously he works, the less he learns. It is getting colder to-day than yesterday.
(werden) darker.
It
was getting slowly
lighter (brighter).
Otto is tall, Konrad is taller, and Wilhehn is the tallest. Marie sings more sweetly than her sister. Are you as lazy as your brother? This boy does not look as clever
The longer we wait here the darker be when we go back home. I have very little, she has less and her cousin (girl) has least. This dog Is that knife sharper than this? is the most faithful. as his brother.
it will
I shall buy the biggest and I answered as best I could. sweetest apples. The teacher will give this book to the cleverest schoolboy.
LESSON XXI POSSESSIVE
AND CORRELATIVE PRONOUNS
we could say mine host, minf mine enemy, but now we always say my. My, thy, our, their, her, your, always demand a noun to follow them, while mine, thine, ours, theirs, hers, yours, can do without a noun, but insist upon having a verb. My book, but the book is mine your house, but this house is yours. When the possessive is used as a pronoun it can be In old-fashioned English
inn,
;
represented in two ways I.
ByPlural
Singular
meiner (m)
meine
(f)
meines
(n)
meine
(all
genders)
These forms are treated exactly like ordinary adjectives used without any article. Dein Vater ist arm, meiner ist reich. Thy father is poor, mine is rich. Das ist nicht sein Buch, es ist meines. That is not his book, it is
mine.
:
POSSESSIVE 2.
By
using
AND CORRELATIVE PRONOUNS the
article
Singular
following
form with the
definite
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Diejenigen, welche He who has come
gekommen
=
ist, ist
those
not
is
who
my
(such as). friend
=
derjenige, welcher
nicht mein Freund.
(Instead of derjenige, welcher the one word wer ma}- be if no particular person is indicated. Wer das sagt,
used
Who
lügt! I
(or
He who)
sa3^s that, is lying!)
have seen your house and your father's. Ich habe Ihr Haus und das (or dasjenige) Ihres Vaters gesehen.
Note that instead pl. die,
may
of derjenige, etc., der,
die,
das;
be used.
derselbe
dasselbe
dieselbe
dieselben
This word means the same, and can be used, just like derjenige, as either an adjective or a pronoun. Derselbe Mann, the same man. Derselbe, the same one. Exercise 58
Diese Handschuhe sind meine, jene sind deine. Lesen Mein Haus ist nicht so Sie immer dieselbe Zeitung? Ihr Garten ist länger als der gross wie das Ihrige. Ich habe mein Buch und das meines Bruders unsrige. gelesen. Ich habe sein Auto gesehen, aber nicht das ihrige. Diejenigen, welche zu spät ankommen, müssen hier warten. Wir essen immer in demselben Restaurant. Er hat immer in derselben Strasse gewohnt. Wer nicht Sie hat meinen Hut gefunden, arbeitet, soll nicht essen. aber nicht den seinigen. Exercise 59
your books, not mine.
His brother sharper than yours (du form). Both aunts live in the same town. He is reading the same book. Those who do not work hard (= industriously) will learn nothing. Their trees are She always buys the same sweets. taller than ours. Our city is bigger than yours. His work is better than His house is not so small as his uncle's. his sister's.
These
is
(das) are
cleverer than hers.
Those who work best
My
may
knife
is
go home
early.
— LESSON XXII
ORDER OF WORDS It is
now worth
while revising
all
about the order of words in German.
that has been said
You have now had
experience of the order actually used, and so will be ready to appreciate general rules in a way you could not before. Then shrieked the timid and stood still the brave. Here we
have two independent clauses joined by and. Each could stand alone and make complete sense then the timid shrieked is one statement, and the brave stood still is another. Such clauses are called principal or independent clauses.
The timid shrieked because
the ship
was sinking.
Here
can stand alone as before and lead to no question. But we cannot read the clause because the ship was sinking without knowing that something important has been left out. The second clause, in fact, depends upon the first and is called a dependent or subordinate clause. In the following sentences the principal clause is printed in ordinary type, the subordinate or dependent clause in italics: He said that he was poor. The boys who came this morning have returned. Go where he sends you. ihe timid shrieked
Examining these clauses we find that the words that was poor tell us something. If we ask what he said the answer is that he was poor. This clause therefore stands for a thing and in fact does the duty of a noun, and is called a noun clause. Who came this morning teUs he
us something about the boys, distinguishes these boys from other boys in fact, it does the work of an adjective, and is called an adjectival clause. Where he sends you in like manner does the work of an adverb, and is called an
—
adverbial clause.
Taking up the principal clause first, we find that, with two important exceptions, the order of words in German is the same as in English if the sentence begins with the The two exceptions are: subject.
"3
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN 1. The Past Participle, the Infinitive, and the Separable Prefix are always placed at the end of the clause, and if there be both a Past Participle and an Infinitive,
the Infinitive goes to the end and the Past Participle Ich habe das takes the place second from the end. I have bought the book ich werde das Buch gekauft I shall buy the book; ich kam nach Buch kaufen
= = =I
Haus zurück werden
=
;
came back home;
ich
werde geliebt
be loved. 2. The second exception is of the utmost importance to us, because we are very liable to make mistakes by carrying our English custom into German. In English we often put an adverb between the subject and the predicate in fact, the very words we have just used Now, this is never done illustrate this we often put, etc. We often put, etc., must read wir setzen oft, in German. No word connected with the predicate can ever etc. come between the subject and the personal verb. There are a few conjunctions which may be placed between the subject and the personal verb; the most usual of these I
shall
—
:
are: nämlich, namely
aber, but also, so,
thus
indessen, whilst,
jedoch, yet,
however
still,
however
as:
Der König aber schlug ihn
tot.
But the king struck him
dead.
You must be continually on your guard against putting in adverbs If
for
clause,
between the subject and its verb. any reason the subject does not begin the
a peculiar change called inversion takes place,
by which the subject is put after its personal verb. In English we might say. The soldier fortunately was present. This must be translated either: (i) Der Soldat war glücklicherweise zugegen, or (2) Glücklicherweise war der Soldat zugegen. There are a few little words so insignificant that
114
:
:
ORDER OF WORDS may come
they
before the
subject
without causing
These are:
inversion. aber, but denn, for
und, and
entweder, either oder, or
So far we have been deahng with the principal clause. In the case of the subordinate clause the essential point is that the verb is placed at the end Der Junge ging ins Bett, weil er krank war. The boy went to bed because he was ill. Die Jungen, die heute morgen kamen, sind im Garten. The boys who came this morning are in the garden. Gehen Sie, wohin er Sie schickt. Go where he sends you.
subordinate its verb:
In
clauses
the
Separable
Prefix
joins
up with
Bevor
er ausging, before he
went
out.
If two infinitives stand at the end, the auxiliaries haben, sein or werden wiU precede the infinitives instead
of following:
Da
wir ihn haben finden können, as
we have been
able to
find him.
In
all
sorts of clauses the following general principles
are true
Certain verbs govern two cases, one of which the accusative, and the other may be either the genitive or the dative. The general rule of order in such cases is that of two nouns the dative comes before the accusative, the genitive after. 1.
is
Sie
werden den König eines Unrechts anklagen.
accuse the king of an injustice. Schicken Sie dem Wirte die Briefe.
Send the
They
will
letters to the
landlord. 2.
A
personal pronoun, which
is
the object (whether comes before any
direct or indirect) of the verb, generally
noun or adverb
in the clause.
Er hat ihnen endlich die Briefe sent them the letters.
115
geschickt.
He
has at last
— TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN 3. If there are several adverbs, they are usually arranged in the following order: (i) adverbs of time, (2) adverbs of place, (3) adverbs of manner.
Er hat es zuletzt gut getan. He has done Wir haben morgens im Hause schwer worked hard at home in the morning.
well at last. gearbeitet.
it
We
Vocabulary der Strand, beach der Kieselstein, pebble der Sand, sand
zurückkehren, to return die
die Garnele, shrimp
der Felsen, rock die Klippen, cliffs der Leuchtturm, lighthouse der Krebs, crab der Dampfer, steamer das Segelschiff, sailing-boat das Fischerboot, fishing-boat die Pension, boarding-house s), hotel das Hotel ( s, der Liegestuhl, deck-chair die Hütte, hut die Strandkabine, bathing-hut der Badende, bather die Ferien, holidays
tume das Sonnenbad, sun-bath die Boje,
buoy
der Spaziergang, walk der Ausflug, outing, excursion
—
die Kapelle, orchestra,
Promenade, promenade
das Segel, sail das Netz, net das Schwimmbad, bathingpool der Badeanzug, bathing-cos-
die
Seemöwe, seagull
das Sandschloss, sand-castle die Bademütze, bathing-cap der Strandschuh, beach-shoe
schwimmen,
to
swim
verbringen, to spend (time) ausgeben, to spend (money) klettern, to climb
band
der Sonnenhut, sun-hat die Welle, wave
anziehen, to put on (clothes) ausziehen, to take off (clothes) liegen, to lie (down) sitzen, to sit, be seated mieten, to hire packen, to pack Fussball spielen, to play football
tauchen, to dive retten, to rescue ertrinken, to be drowned viel Spass haben, to have a good time Golf spielen, to play golf Cricket spielen, to play cricket der Spass, joke
die Südküste (Ost-, Nord-, West-), South. East, North,
West
Coast
Exercise 60
verbrachten wir unsere SommerWir packten ferien an der Nordküste Deutschlands. Letzten
Sommer
116
ORDER OF WORDS und fuhren am 28. August nach SwineDas Wetter war prachtvoll während des ganzen Monates, den wir dort verbrachten. Wir wohnunsere Koffer
münde
ab.
ten in einem grossen Hotel, das neben dem Strand war. Jeden Morgen standen wir früh auf. Nach dem Frühstück gingen wir zum Strand hinunter. Wir trugen unsere Badeanzüge mit uns, und wenn das Wetter warm war, zogen wir unsere Badeanzüge und Bademützen an und schwammen in der See. Ich kann nicht wie (like) ein Fisch schwimmen, doch (yet) schwimme ich sehr gem. Einige kleine Kinder, deren Eltern (parents) in Liegestühlen sassen, machten Sandschlösser. Andere spielten Fussball oder suchten Garnelen und Krebse mit ihren Netzen. Nach dem Baden lagen wir auf dem warmen Sand und nahmen em Sonnenbad. Bald wurden wir ganz braun, fast wie Neger (black men). Eines Tages sahen wir einen Jungen in der See. Er konnte nicht sehr gut schwinmien. Ein Fischer hat ihn vom Ertrinken gerettet. Manchmal machten wir einen Ausflug auf einem Fischerboot. Das war sehr schön, und wir hatten viel Spass. Wir tauchten von dem Boot in die See. Es war ganz schön, wenn die Wellen gross waren. Oft kletterten wir die KHppen hinauf, oder machten einen
Spaziergang den Strand entlang.^ Mein Vater hatte eine Strandkabine gemietet -und so konnten wir nachmittags Kaffee am Strand trinken. Mein Vater spielte oft Golf auf dem schönen Golfplatz. Wir waren ganz traurig, als wir nach Hause haben zurückkehren müssen. Exercise 6
t
want to leave for Stuttgart to-morrow morning. In the autumn we must pick the apples and plough the fields. Where is the basket into which I put the apples? I
1
Entlang usnally follows the noun in the accusative
the beach.
»7
:
along
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN At Christmas we have four days hohdays. We must not smoke here, for it is forbidden. The child whose parents are dead is very clever. I cannot read this letter because it is so badly written. Therefore you must show me the letter you wrote this morning. Yesterday it rained as I was coming up the street. The man to whom Before you go out I was talking yesterday is the mayor. show me the newspaper you bought this morning. He went out yesterday evening although he was ill. As it was so late he went immediately to bed. Whilst he was putting on his coat he heard somebody at the door.
LESSON
XXIII
PASSIVE VOICE
The Imperfect
werden
of
is
very easy
Imperfect of werden Plural
Singular
wir wurden
wurde
1.
ich
2.
du wurdest
3.
er
wurde
f Sie
wurden
{^^^
^^^^^
sie
wurden
We
can use werden with the Past Participle as weU it has quite a different meaning. as with the Infinitive, but then
Ich werde lieben = I shall love. Ich werde geliebt = I am loved.
Werden and the Infinitive make the Future tense; werden and the Past Participle make what is called the Passive voice.
The Passive
of the verb does not act, but
indicates
how
others upon
it.
the subject
is
indicates that the subject is
rather acted upon. It by the action of
affected
:
PASSIVE VOICE
The four commonest
tenses of the Passive are: the the Imperfect, / was loved; the Perfect, / have been loved and the Pluperfect, J had been Present, /
am
loved;
;
loved.
Present: ich werde geUebt. Imperfect ich wurde gehebt. :
To make
the two Perfect tenses we require the Past This Past Participle is geworden. Note that this Past Participle has no ge before it when it is used to form the Passive of another verb. Participle of werden.
Ich bin geworden means " I have become." Ich war geworden means " I had become."
So
if
we put
in the Past Participle of lieben
we
get
Ich bin gehebt worden, meaning " I have become loved," or, more simply, " I have been loved." Ich war geliebt worden, means " I had become loved " or " I had been loved."
Sometimes the Past Participle is used like an adjective, and when this is done there is apt to be some confusion with the Passive. If we find a soldier lying dead with a bullet hole in his head we may say: Er ist getötet he is killed. Here there is no action, therefore no Passive voice. Er wird getötet is the Passive form, and implies that he is being killed: that the killing is going on. When you are in doubt whether a Participle is to be used as a Passive or not, ask yourself whether you can put this action into the progressive form. Bestrafen to pmiish. / am punished. Is the punishing going on? Yes; then ich werde bestraft. No; then ich bin bestraft. The following examples will help to make this point clear.
=
=
I shall
The
punish.
soldiers
Ich werde bestrafen. being rescued. Die
are
Soldaten
werden
gerettet.
The
were rescued {i.e. were in the state Die Soldaten waren gerettet.
soldiers
safe).
i»9
Oi"
now
being
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Sie waren gerettet worden. rescued. have been punished. Ich bin bestraft worden. She is asked. Sie wird gefragt.
They had been I
When by is used with the Passive it is always rendered von to denote the agent, durch to denote the instrument: Der Knabe wird von seinem Vater punished by his father. Der Soldat wurde durch einen Pfeil was killed by an arrow.
The boy
bestraft.
The
getötet.
is
soldier
Exercise 62
Put
in the proper
form of sein or werden
(to
form either
Passive or Future) according to the meaning:
—
dreimal am Tage (a day) vom Dieser Briefkasten gestern Briefträger geleert (emptied). Dieser Brief der Brief von meiner Stenotypistin geschrieben.
—
schon geschrieben? Ich besuchen. Das Telegramm
ankamen,
wir
Haus Jahr
—
die
—
meinen Freund
—
Tür
— schon gebaut worden.
vom
—
Bonn
in
gestern geschickt. schon geschlossen.
Dieses Kleid
—
Als
Das
letztes
Schneider gemacht.
Exercise 63 I have been asked by my brother to ^ go to Berlin. These apples were picked yesterday by the baker's chilWhen (wann) will these letters be written? dren. The child has been punished. This newspaper is read every day by thousands of (Tausenden von) men and women. Has the car already been repaired? Have you been seen by anyone? The letter-box is now being cleared (emptied) by the postman. This dress will be
made by ^
Zu.
the tailor.
Do
When was
this
book written?
not forget that the infinitive goes to the end.
120
:
:
LESSON XXIV
GOVERNMENT OF VERBS I.
Verbs taking the Dative
As we have seen before, there are certain verbs which sometimes require to in EngUsh when the Dative without preposition is required in German. Such verbs take two objects, a direct and an indirect, this preceding the direct if both are nouns, and following if both are pronouns. If one is a pronoun and the other a noun, the pronoun comes first. Such are sich nähern, to
approach
•(an) bieten, to offer
widmen, to dedicate, devote
•geben, to give schenken, to present reichen, to pass schicken, to send erwidern, to reply zeigen, to show •beschreiben, to describe •befehlen, to order erlauben ^ ,,
•schreiben, to write ^ sagen, to tell " erzählen, to relate, tell leihen, to lend •vorlesen, to read (aloud) to
verweigern i ^ ^^^"^« •abschlagen)*« vertrauen, to trust anvertrauen, to entrust
•»
gestatten/^«^"^^^
Examples Ich näherte mich dem Löwen. I drew near to the lion. Er vertraute seinem Bruder das Kind an. He entrusted the child to his brother. es ihm ab.
Wir schlugen
We
refused
it
him.
The following govern the Dative, where the reason not so apparent to the English student: danken, to thank antworten, to answer (person) begegnen, to meet gehorchen, to obey •geschehen, to happen •helfen, to help passen, to fit
dienen, to serve folgen, to follow •gefallen, to please gehören, to belong glauben, to believe (person) nützen, to be of use schmeicheln, to flatter
Also an
-|-
Ace. before noun.
*
To say
to
=
sagen zu.
is
)
)
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN 2.
Verbs governing the Genitive
The Genitive noun
follows the Accusative.
sich bedienen, to use sich schämen." to be ashamed of
berauben, to rob of versichern, to assure of
3.
4.
remember
Verbs follov/ed by the Nominative
remain to be called
*sein, to be »werden, to become
^bleiben, to "heissen,
sich erinnern,* to
anklagen, to accuse of überzeugen, to convince of
Verbs taking a different Preposition
All the following verbs taking a preposition different from that in EngHsh take the Accusative, except those marked with a dagger (f), and these require the Dative.
An:
(a)
adressieren,
to
address
{mes-
sage)
denken, to think
of
sterben, to die of (illness) sich wenden, to apply to zweifeln, to
doubt of
(f
glauben, to believe sich lehnen, to lean against erinnern, to remind of sich erinnern, to remember
teilnehmen, to take part
in (f
(j)
Auf:
(h)
''achtgeben auf,
pay attention to
antworten auf, answer {thing) zählen auf, to count on
warten
auf, to wait for »sich verlassen auf, to rely
on
Aus:
(c)
werden, to become
übersetzen, to translate from machen, to make from (f)
(f)
bestehen, to consist of
(j)
Bei:
(d)
bleiben, to stay with *
Also takes an
wohnen, to
(f)
-f Ace.
*
12S
live
with
Also takes über
+
(f)
Ace.
(f)
GOVERNMENT OF VERBS (e)
Nach:
fragen, to ask for (|) zielen, to aim at (f) (/)
schicken, to send for (f) sich sehnen, to long for (|)
Über:
sich ärgern, to be annoyed at erstaunen, to be surprised at sich wundern, to wonder at sich freuen, to rejoice at sich schämen, to be ashamed of
ig)
lachen, to laugh at » spotten, to make fun of erröten, to blush at sich aufregen, to get excited at
Um: kämpfen, to struggle for
spielen, to play for
bitten, to ask for (h)
Vor: be afraid of tremble with (f)
sich fürchten," to zittern, to
Note
also
:
(f)
warnen, to warn of (f) schützen, to protect from
(f)
vor Freude tanzen, to dance for joy vor Hunger sterben, to die of hunger Exercise 64
Ich dankte ihm für seinen Brief.
Er
(gout).
Er
starb an Gicht Ich fragte
ärgerte sich über meine Antwort.
nach dem Preis (price) der Äpfel. Er hat dieses Buch aus dem Deutschen übersetzt, während er bei seiner Tante wohnte. Er befahl dem Manne, auf den Zug zu warten. Das Mädchen errötete über diese Antwort. Ich vertraue Ihnen diese Arbeit an. Wem gehört das Haus mit dem roten Dach? Erlauben Sie mir, Ihnen zu helfen. Ich las meiner Mutter den Brief vor. Beschreiben Sie mir die Stadt, wo Sie wohnen. Erinnern Sie sich an den Tag, wo ^ wir dem Manne begegneten? Was ist aus Ihrem Bruder geworden? Der Junge lehnte 1
But
"
I fear that
'
When
:
I
laugh at him. .
after a
.
.
=
noun
Ich lache ihn aus.
ich fürchte, dass of time wo.
=
123
.
.
.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN an die Wand. Folgen Sie mir, bitte! Gefällt es Ihnen hier in England? Das englische Wetter gefällt mir nicht. Sie können sich auf ihn verlassen. Wann haben Sie Ihrer Schwester diese Armbanduhr geschenkt? Die anderen lachten und spotteten über den armen Jungen. Das kleine Mädchen fürchtete sich vor der Der arme Mann bat mich um Geld grossen Kuh. (money). Wir zitterten vor Kälte (cold). sich
Exercise 65
The girls and boys danced for joy. My nephew iWs become a sailor. I was surprised at his letter. Whom Ask for the price of the coat in are you thinking of ? shop-window. Pass the sugar to your brother, Did you Hke the film yesterday evening? I do not believe her. Have you not sent for the doctor? I fear that we shall have bad weather to-morrow. I allowed the children to play in the garden. We told the policeman the whole story (die Geschichte). He asked me for money, but I refused it him. I do not remember the
please.
girl. He got excited at my answer, and ordered me show him the book. He leaned against the door and would not aUow me to go out. Are you afraid of lions? There is the man whom we met at the '* Red Lion."
the to
LESSON XXV THE ENGLISH PRESENT PARTICIPLE The EngHsh Present Participle of the verb (i.e. the part ending in ~ing) is a fruitful source of difficulty to the English student of German. Here is a list of the main points to be noticed: I.
The German Present Participle in -end is used noun (rarely can it be used
adjective before the
1*4
as an after
THE ENGLISH PRESENT PARTICIPLE and it may be used adverbially or to form a noun which in English would end in -er it),
:
Der sterbende Mann,* the dying man. Sie hat eine auffallend musikahsche strikingly musical voice.
Der Reisende,* der Badende, the
Stimme.
She has
a
traveller, the bather,
2. After the verb bleiben, to remain, and those mentioned in the next lesson, under the Infinitive, section I (c), the EngHsh Present Participle is rendered by the simple Infinitive:
Er
blieb sitzen.
He remained
Ich sah ihn spielen.
I
sitting.
saw him playing,
3. When the English Present Participle simple Infinitive is used in German:
Das Rauchen ist hier verboten. Er ist des Wartens müde. He
Smoking is
is
is
a noun the
forbidden here.
tired of waiting.
(Note the position of müde: adjectives in come at the end like this.)
German
frequently
In most other cases
best to turn the Present co-ordinate with und, subordinate or relative, according to the meaning. Note the following: 4.
it is
Participle
into a clause,
He
smoking on a chair
sat
The girl wearing the green
=
he sat on a chair and smoked. = the girl who wears a green
dress
dress.
opening the window = when I opened. Before going out = before I went out. Knowing he was ill = as I knew he was ill. " Yes," he said, putting on his coat = whilst he put on his
On
coat.
But we cannot say Der Mann ist sterbend. We can say Das Mädchen ist reizend, the girl is charming, because reizend is 1
:
:
purely adjectival, whereas sterbend is verbal in force. ' Such nouns, and those formed from adjectives or Past Participles, are declined as though they were adjectives followed by a noun.
125
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN 5. After kommen, to come, the Germans have a curious use of the Past Participle instead of the Present Participle to denote the mode of coming
Er kam gehüpft,
gelaufen, gesprungen, gekrochen, he came hopping, running, jumping, crawhng, etc.
Exercise 66
Bevor er
dem
ins Bett ging, schrieb er einen Brief.
er die Zeitung gelesen hatte, ging er aus.
Nach-
Indem
Mantel anzog und seinen Hut aufsetzte, lief er dem Zimmer. Das Baden ist hier verboten. Er sass in dem Garten und rauchte eine Pfeife. Wer ist das Mädchen, das den grünen Hut trägt? Wir hörten unsere er seinen
aus
Kusine singen. Er blieb an der Tür stehen. Da ich wusste (knew),^ dass er zu Hause war, telephonierte ich ihm. Als ich zum Fenster hinaussah, sah ich das Auto unseres Arztes vorbeifahren. Er sah sie Tennis spielen.
Er
kam
als ich
ster
während
er sich rasierte. Das kleine Mädund sprach zu uns. Ich stand auf, den Mann hereinkommen sah, aber meine Schwe-
rauchte,
chen
bUeb
gelaufen
sitzen.
Exercise 67
Seeing the letter on the table I read it. " Are you ready? " he asked, putting on his coat. He stood near the door, reading a newspaper. The man was working and his wife was playing the piano. I asked him to sit 2 down, but he remained standing. On opening the drawer we found a letter from him. Who is the man riding the big black horse? We found them weeping. Before going out he 'phoned to his brother. Knowing it was late we decided not to visit our uncle. After seeing the advertisement in the paper he 'phoned to his sister. ^
* Wissen, to
Kennen, '
To To
sit sit,
to
down
know through the brain (facts). know by sight, hearing, touch, (take one's seat), sich setzen.
be sitting, be seated, * sitzen.
126
smell, taste.
:
VERBS WITH SEIN— THE INFINITIVE The dying
sailor
Going along the
know
The man is dying. met my dentist. I used tc He knows nothing.
asked for water. street I
this doctor.
LESSON XXVI VERBS WITH SEIN— THE INFINITIVE
Up
till
now we have always used
the verb haben to
make
the Perfect or Pluperfect of a verb, as in ich habe But there are a good many I have done it. es getan verbs that require the verb sein instead of the verb haben. In English we can say either / am come or / have come, but in German it must be ich bin gekommen.
=
Lists are sometimes given of verbs that take sein and those that take haben, but these are very tiresome to learn, and it is better if we can hit upon any way of discovering from the meaning whether a verb should have haben or sein. It may be accepted as a rule that all verbs having a direct object must use haben. Of other verbs, the sein class may be detected by applying the
following test: Is the action of the verb followed by a corresponding state? If it is, then use sein; if it is not, use haben. The question may be best put If I have done so-and-so, am I so-and-so? For example If I have come, am I come? The answer so we use sein. If I have died, am I dead? is clearly jy^s Again yes so we use sein. Er ist gestorben he has died. If I have fought, am I fought ? The answer is no so we write er hat gekämpft. Some of the commonest verbs of the sein class are
—
:
;
=
;
;
bleiben, to remain, stay hasten
reisen, to travel
*gelingen, to succeed kommen, to come steigen, to mount werden, to become wachsen, to grow wandern, to wander
eilen, to
fliegen, to fly fallen, to fall sein, to be sinken, to sink gehen, to go
127
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN The
The
1.
Infinitive
Infinitive without zu
is
used after
(b)
the verb werden, the modal auxiUaries (müssen, können,
(c)
the following verbs:
(a)
helfen, to help hören, to hear lassen, to cause sehen, to see
We
etc.),
fühlen, to feel lehren, to teach
lernen, to learn
have already seen this in the case of werden and Here are examples of the others
the Modal Auxiliaries. Ich sah
1 saw her playing. They taught me to sing. I learnt to swim there.
sie spielen.
mich singen. Ich lernte dort schwimmen.
Sie lehrten
The zu
is
also omitted in certain expressions:
He He
Er geht schwimmen. Er tut nichts als schlafen.
going swimming. does nothing but sleep. is
In other cases zu is used before the Infinitive. that zu comes between the Separable Prefix and the Infinitive, forming one word, but in other cases forms two words: 2.
Remember
He asked me to accompany begleiten. him. Ich wünschte auszugehen. I desired to go out. Ich versprach, früh nach Hause zu kommen. I promised to
Er bat mich, ihn zu
come home early. Er befahl mir, nach
Berlin zu reisen.
He
me
ordered
to go
to Berlin.
Wir beschlossen in Bonn zu übernachten.
We decided to stay
the night in Bonn.
The verb
The verb important.
lassen It
mentioned
means
to
lassen in Section i
above
have something done,
128
is
to
very cause
:
VERBS WITH SEIN— THE INFINITIVE Like the Modal Auxilithe Infinitive instead of the Past Participle is used after another Infinitive. Note these examples:
to be
done, to get something done.
aries,
Ich lasse mir die Haare schneiden.
I
have (am having)
my
hair cut. I had Ich liess mir die Haare schneiden. Ich habe mir die Haare schneiden lassen
my I
hair cut.
have had
my
have
my
hair cut.
Ich werde mir die Haare schneiden lassen.
I
shall
hair cut. Ich beschloss, mir die Haare schneiden zu lassen. to have my hair cut.
I
decided
The English Past Participle in such cases is in the Infinitive. Cut (Past Participle) becomes in to cut. The exact meaning is: / cause to cut. Note 2. In talking of parts of the body or dress, unless any misunderstanding might arise, the definite article is used instead of the possessive adjective {my, his, etc.). Possession is indicated by the Dative of the noun or Note
I.
German German
pronoun Ich
This
liess
is
mir die Haare schneiden.
I
had
my
hair cut.
true of constructions other than with lassen
:
dem Manne
auf den Fuss. 1 trod on the man's foot {literally I trod to the man on the foot). Ich wusch mir die Hände. I washed my hands. But: Seine Hände waren furchtbar schmutzig. His hands were terribly dirty. (If die were used, possession would be vague and the sentence would be ridiculous.)
Ich trat
:
Exercise 68
heute nachmittag mit meinem Freund schwimmen. Hast du versprochen, ihm em Buch zu schicken? Mein Onkel lehrte mich Klavier spielen. Ich lasse mir die Haare schneiden. Ich habe mir ein neues Haus bauen lassen. Wo haben Sie Golf spielen gelernt? Helfen Sie mir einsteigen! Müssen Sie jetzt nach Hause gehen? Wir werden uns in Paris neue Ich
gehe
129
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Kleider machen lassen. Er beschloss, mit dem Auto nach Dresden zu fahren. Ich beschloss, mir die Haare schneiden zu lassen. Mein Vater hat mir versprochen, mich vom Bahnhof abzuholen. Wünschen Sie morgen abzufahren? Ich befahl dem Kellner, mir eine Flasche Wein zu bringen. Ich habe mir eine Flasche Wein bringen lassen. Wir sahen ihn im Walde reiten. Waschen Sie ihm die Hände! Hast du dir die Hände gewaschen? Ich habe ihm die Hände gewaschen. Der Frisör (barber) hat dem Manne die Haare geschnitten. Schneiden Sie mir bitte die Haare nicht zu kurz! Hast
du
dir die Fingernägel (finger-nails) gefärbt (tinted)
die Augenbrauen rasiert (shaved
= plucked)
?
und
Ich lasse
mir die Schuhe putzen (clean). Ist er nach Hause gegangen? Sie sind noch nicht angekommen. Mein Bruder ist gestern nach Amsterdam geflogen. Exercise 69
Who taught you I heard you singing in the garden. Shah I buy you a few cigarettes to play the piano? when I am in the town? We have hastened to the Have you travelled in Russia? station to meet you. The trees in your garden have grown very tall. I had I shall have a new the grass of the lawn cut yesterday. We have often wandered over suit made next week. Have you stayed at home all day? Can these fields. you get this wheel repaired for me? I have had a glass Shall I have these things sent of wine brought for you. I have 'decided to have my hair (zuschicken) to you? waved (ondulieren). Will you teach me to dive? We promised to send them a letter every week. He asked her Have you ordered the waiter to bring to write to him.
No, I have ordered wish to listen to the wireless?
some more bread?
Do you
* To order something, •jomething, •befehlen.
bestellen.
130
To
^
some
cigarettes.
order a person to
do
LESSON XXVII THE SUBJUNCTIVE I.
The Formation
of the Subjunctive
The Present Tense
In learning the Subjunctive forms of the verbs the student must remember the " Subjunctive e." All the endings have e, as the following examples will show, and in the Present Tense this e is added in all cases to the stem of the verb, i.e. that part left after takin? off -(e)n:
haben
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Use of the Subjunctive
2.
One is
of the
most important uses
in Indirect or Reported Speech. Direct Speech : Indirect Speech
of the Subjunctive Notice the following
He said "I am ill," He said he was ill. :
:
In English the Present Tense [am) becomes Past Tense In German the Present Tense of Direct Speech should correctly become the Present Subjunctive, but many Germans use the Imperfect Subjunctive, especially in conversation: {was) in Indirect Speech.
Direct Speech : Indirect Speech
Er sagte " Ich bin krank." Er sagte, dass er krank sei :
The dass in Indirect Speech the word order: Er
(or wäre).
:
may
be omitted.
Notice
sagte, er sei (or wäre) krank.
The Present Subjunctive is not used if it has the same form as the Present Indicative. The Imperfect SubLet us compare junctive must be used in such a case. the Present Subjunctive and Present Indicative of the verb haben :
Pres. Ind.
Pres. Subj.
ich
habe
habe
habest
hast hat
habe
haben habt haben
wir haben habet sie
haben
Thus those forms which are the same in both moods are the ich, wir and sie forms, and they must be replaced by hätte, hätten. As, however, the Imperfect Subjunctive may be used in all cases, and usually is in conversational the student is advised to keep Subjunctive in Reported Speech, until his language is more complete. style,
132
to
the
Imperfect of the
command
:
:
THE SUBJUNCTIVE If the tense of the actual words is Past in English, then the student should use the Pluperfect (although more correctly the Perfect, except when this is the same as the Perfect Indicative in form) Direct : Indirect
:
The policeman The pohceman
said "I found the book." said he (had)* found the book. :
In German: Direct
Der Schutzmann sagte
:
" Ich habe das
:
Buch
ge-
funden." Indirect
:
Der Schutzmann
sagte, dass er das Buch gefunden hätte (sagte, er hätte das Buch gefunden).
Generat Rule for the Subjunctive In Indirect Speech
After a verb
(in
the Past Tense) of saying, declaring,
believing, asking,'^ answering, reporting, fearing, thinking, relating,
surmising,
suspecting,
etc.,
the
Subjunctive
must be used in the following clause as explained above. Another use of the Subjunctive is the 3rd Person Imperative form
(see also p. 88 )
\ Er gehe nach Hause Er soll nach Hause gehen or vLet him go home. or Lasst ihn nach Hause gehen !j !
:
:
Notice also the exclamatory wish! Es
lebe der König lebe der König
Hoch
\
\^
..1.
,
ll^ong hve the
Kmg t^-
. I
Vocabulary der Salon, dravöng-room der Schlüssel, key der Stock (das Stockwerk), storey, floor
der Aufzug, lift der Heizkörper, radiator die Zentralheizung, central heating
das Wohnzimmer, living-room die Elektrizität, electricity
das der der der der
Feuer,
fire
Boden, floor Teppich, carpet Spiegel, mirror
Kamin, mantelpiece, Eng-
lish fireplace
* Fragen, to ask, takes ob, whether, never be omitted.
133
if,
which, unlike dass,
may
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN der Ofen, German stove ^ det Vorhang, curtain der Wecker, alarm-clock der Kleiderständer, coat-rack der Schirmständer, umbrellastand der Rollvorhang, blind hinaufgehen, to go up hinunterlaufen, to run down anknipsen, fo switch on aufwachen, to wake up modern,* modern, up-to-date schuldig,
*bekommen-k to
get, obtain, re-
kriegen J ceive schliessen, to lock *herunterlassen, to let
down
hängen, to hang *heraufziehen, to pull up beleuchtet, lighted klingeln (nach), to ring (for) bedecken, to cover sich wärmen, to warm oneself ausmachen, to put out wecken, to wake (someone) hinaufifahren, to go up (in a
owing
das Gas, gas das Studierzimmer, study die Garage, garage das Schlafzimmer, bedroom das Badezimmer, bathroom die Treppe, stairs der Schornstein, chimney
lift)
die
Mark
(no
mark
pi.),
sicher, certain(ly)
die
Nummer, number
bitte sehr
was
für,
I
not at
what
* vergessen,
all
I
sort of
to forget
Exercise 70
modernen aber billigen Ich will in dieser Stadt einige Wochen verHier ist ein gutes Hotel, mein Herr der Riesenbringen. fürstenhof. Gut! Ich steige hier aus. Wieviel bin ich Ihnen schuldig? Drei Mark fünfzig? Hier ist Trinkgeld Danke schön, mein Herr! Bitte sehr! Kann für Sie. Chauffeur, fahren Sie zu einem
Hotel.
:
ich
ein
Zimmer
für
einige
Was für eines? Ich Der Mann sagte, er hätte
Nächte bekommen?
Ja,
zu viel ausgeben. einige schöne Zimmer, die ganz ruhig und hell beleuchtet wären. Ich antwortete, dass ich sie ansehen möchte. Er sagte, ich könnte mit sicher!
will nicht
hinauffahren: Nummer 15. Ich fragte, wo der Aufzug wäre. Er erwiderte, dass er in der Ecke Ich fragte den Liftjungen, ob das Hotel Zentralwäre. heizung hätte. " Ja, sicher! " antwortete er. Er fragte, zu welchem Zimmer ich ginge. Ich sagte, dass ich dort Ich fragte, ob das einige Tage verbringen würde.
dem Aufzug
*
A stove for heating purposes which replaces the English open '
fireplace.
1
34
Pron. mo-dern'.
THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE
Ob
das Hotel in alien Zimwäre? Er sagte mir, dass ein Badezimmer neben meinem Zimmer wäre, und dass Zentralheizung in allen Zimmern wäre. Ich khngelte nach dem Portier. Ich fragte ihn, ob Er antwortete, dass er mich um 5 Uhr wecken würde. Ich zog den Rollvorhang er es nicht vergessen würde. herauf und sah auf die Strasse hinunter.
Hotel eine Garage hätte?
mern durch
Elektrizität
beleuchtet
Exercise 71
The driver said he was quite ready. I asked him if he knew (wissen or kennen?) where the Hotel Bismarck was. He said he had never seen it. I asked the policeman whether the post office was in that street. She The girl said she had said he was coming on Monday. seen his car in the garage. The man told me she had gone by air to England. I replied that I had missed the train.
Long
She asked me if I would like to play with them. our friends from Germany!
live
LESSON XXVIII THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE The so-called Conditional tense or mood is formed with the Imperfect Subjunctive of werden -f the Infinitive. ich würde gehen du würdest gehen er würde gehen wir würden gehen ihr würdet gehen sie würden gehen Sie würden gehen *
The English should
I
should
^
go
you would * go lie would go
we should go you would go they would go you would go
also
means ought
also
means wanted
to
:
we
shall deal
with
this later in this lesson. *
The English would
He would He would
to
and used
to
:
not answer. Er wollte nicht antworten. often go out in the evenings. Er ging oft abends aus (oft ging er abends aus).
135
:
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN tense, as we prefer to call it, is used when expressed or understood, and to translate should or would in Indirect Speech:
The above
an
if
is
Ich würde das Haus kaufen, wenn es billiger wäre. I should buy the house if it were cheaper. Er sagte, dass sie kommen würde. He said she would be coming.
The
/f
Clause
be seen above, wenn, if, is followed by the Imperfect Subjunctive to express a h5rpothesis or condition impossible or unlikely to be fulfilled.
As
will
Wenn Wenn
ich
das Geld hätte.
er nach
If I
Hause käme.
had the money. he came (were to come)
If
home.
The wenn,
like the if in English,
Had
Hätte ich das Geld.
The würde
I
the
may
be omitted
money (=
if
I
had).
may
be replaced by the Imperfect Subjunctive, while the Pluperfect Subjunctive is much to be preferred to the Second or Perfect Conditional. This subjunctive construction in both Simple and Second Conditional must be used in the case of the Modal Consider the Auxiliaries, as set out on page 137 following examples: 1. Simple Conditional: If he were here I would show it to him may be translated clause
.
Wenn
(iii)
er hier wäre, würde ich es ihm zeigen, or er hier, zeigte ich es ihm, or Wenn er hier wäre, zeigte ich es ihm, or
(iv)
Wäre
(i)
(ii)
Wäre
er hier,
würde
ich es
ihm
zeigen.
may
be put first. Of the above perhaps it is best for the student to keep to the first. 2. Second Conditional: // he had been here I would have shown it to him may be translated
Or the second
(i)
clause
Wenn
er hier gewesen wäre (Wäre er hier gewesen),. ihm gezeigt, Wenn er hier gewesen wäre (Wäre er hier gewesen),, würde ich es ihm gezeigt haben.
hätte ich es
(ii)
136
:
THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE Of these two the student had better keep to the former, that being the more usual.
The Modal
Auxiliaries
We
have said before that the Imperfect Subjunctive modal auxiliaries is used instead of the Simple Conditional with würde, and the Pluperfect Subjunctive instead of the Second Conditional: of the
Simple Conditional Ich könnte nicht gehen.
I
could not (should not be able
to)
go.
Ich müsste Deutsch lernen, i should have to learn German. Ich möchte diesen Film sehen. I should like to see this film. Ich sollte nach Hause gehen. I should (ought to) go home.
Second Conditional: ich hätte nicht gehen können. I could not have gone (should not have been able to go). Ich hätte Deutsch lernen müssen. I should have had to learn
German.
Ich hätte gerne diesen Film gesehen. I should have liked to see this film (preferable to the construction with mögen). Ich hätte nach Hause gehen sollen. I should (ought to)
have gone home. Als ob, als
wenn,
as
though,
as
if
If followed by a Past tense als ob and als followed by a past subjunctive:
Er sieht aus, als ob er ein Gespenst gesehen hätte. as though he had seen a ghost.
wenn He
are
looks
Exercise 72
you had the money would you like to go to the If I were you I should go home at once (gleich). Had my friend been at home I should have spent the night with him. She would have missed the train If
United States?
'37
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN she had not gone to the station by taxi. I should have telephoned you had I not been able to come. I told them I would help them if I could. I should have liked to go with you to the theatre, but I was terribly If the Hft had been in order I should not have busy. fallen (fallen) down the stairs. I asked him how much He asked me if I was getting out there. I owed him. He asked I asked him if he could switch on the Hght. me if I desired to go up by the hft. I told him I got a letter from her every week. The driver asked me to what sort of hotel I would Uke to go. I told him I had come up the stairs. The liftboy said he put an alarmThe girl looked clock on the mantelpiece of my room. as though she had spent several weeks by the (an der) if
sea.
LESSON XXIX REFLEXIVE VERBS (i) When the action of a verb is reflected back to the subject the Reflexive Pronoun must be used, even after a preposition. The Reflexive Pronoun is Accusative if
the direct object
and Dative
if
indirect.
Accusative ich
du
wash myself you wash yourself.
wasche mich,
I
wäschst dich,
washes himself wäscht sich, she washes herself wir waschen uns, we wash ourselves ihr wascht euch, you wash yourselves sie waschen sich, they wash themselves Sie waschen sich, you wash yourself (yourselves)
er wäscht sich, he sie
Or
*
:
du wäschest.
Imperfect ich
wusch mich,
I
washed myself
'38
REFLEXIVE VERBS Perfect
Ich habe mich gewaschen,
I
have washed myself
Dative ich
wasche mir die Hände,
du wäschst dir er wäscht sich sie wäscht sich wir waschen uns ihr wascht euch sie waschen sich Sie waschen sich
He He He
I
wash
my
hands, etc.
„ „ „ „ „ „
Er bHckte hinter sich. Er sprach vor sich hin. Er hat kein Geld bei sich.
looked behind him. spoke to himself. has no money on him.
(ii) In English myself, himself, etc., are frequently used, not reflexively, but to add force to the subject.
German and
In such cases selber or selbst must be used in placed after the direct object:
He
did
In English
(iii)
it
Er
himself.
we commonly
tat es selbst.
use what
is
sometimes
when the mind of the
called a neuter verb to express a passive state
agent
is
unknown
or too unimportant in the
In such cases the active reflexive verb used in German: speaker.
Suddenly the door opened.
Here
(iv)
is
a
list
often
Plötzlich öffnete sich die Tür.
of verbs
English and where the stood
is
German
which are " neuter "
in
reflexive is easily under-
:
sich ändern,
change (= vary)
sich ankleiden, to dress sich auskleiden, to undress sich fühlen, to feel
sich lehnen, to lean
sich rasieren, to shave *sich waschen, to wash sich regen, to stir, move sich rühren, to move (away) sich umdrehen, to turn round
139
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN is
(v) Here is a list of verbs where the not so apparent
sich befinden,^ to be (found) bemühen, to endeavour sich umsehen, to have a look
sich fragen, to
sich
down
sich weigern, to refuse sich verirren, to lose one's
round lie
reflexive
wondei
sich setzen, to sit
sich aufregen, to get excited
sich legen, to
German
way
sich totlachen, to die of laughing
down
mistaken sich betragen, to behave
sich
sich erkälten, to catch cold sich freuen, to be glad
sich unterhalten, to converse sich beeilen, to hasten sich bedienen,^ to use
sich irren, to be
sich erinnern,' to
erholen.
recover
to
(health)
remember
Verbs with the Dative Reflexive Pronoun:
(vi)
sich vornehmen, to propose, plan, arrange
sich vorstellen» sich einbilden f^^
sich wehtun, to hurt
»magme
oneself
The
Reflexive Pronoun in the Dative is also often the Dative of Advantage, and [b) to indicate possession where the article is used instead of the possessive adjective in talking of parts of the body or (vii)
used as
{a)
dress (see Lesson
{a)
XXVI,
under: The Verb lassen, page
Dative of Advantage:
Er
liess sich ein
Haus bauen.
He had
a house built for him-
self.
Er kaufte
He bought
sich einen Radioapparat.
himself a
wireless-set.
Ich sah mir die Schaufenster an.
I
had a look at the shop-
windows, (b)
In speaking of the body or dress
Ec schnitt sich in den Finger. He cut his finger. Er brach sich das Genick. He broke his neck. Ich ^
• •
liess
mir die Haare schneiden.
=
I
had
my
hair cut.
Sich befinden to be in health or be situated. Sich erinnern takes the Genitive or an with Ace. Sich bedienen takes the Genitive.
140
REFLEXIVE VERBS Vocab uiary der Wunsch, wish
bewundern, to admire
von mir, of mine
enttäuschen, to disappoint der Reisemorgen, morning of the departure anbrechen, to break, dawn der Wettergott, " clerk of the "
sich erfüllen, to be fulfilled abgesehen von, apart from wiedersehen, to see again
besonders, particularly so viel, so much die Schönheit, beauty eigen,
weather
herabstrahlen, to shine die Fahrt, journey
own
das Deck, deck bekannt, acquainted die Reise, journey
die Eisenbahn, railway endlich, at last mieten, to hire das Schifi, ship
vertraut, familiar
der Weg, way nebst, together with
bequem, comfortable seekrank, seasick laut, loud
die Sperre, barrier passieren, to pass sorgfältig, carefully
ohrenbetäubend, deafening das Sirenengeheul, blast of the
prüfen, to examine der Reisepass. passport die Sache, thing, article zollpflichtig, dutiable verneinen, to say no vorbeilassen, to allow to pass der Holzsteg, wooden gangway
herumlaufen, to run about das Gesicht, face läuten, to ring, tinkle sich schaukeln, to toss, pitch
immigra-
Offizier, officer
sich's
bequem machen,
offen,
open
gekräuselt, ruffled malerisch, picturesque
der Eindruck, impression ferner, further and further rücken, to move an etwas (Dat.) * vorbeifahren, to go past something die Boje,
der Schaum, foam der Bug, bow (of ship)
der
siren
anzeigen, to indicate der Hafen, harbour
immer
gebräunt, sun-tanned wetterhart, weather-beaten der Zug, feature
die Einwanderung, tion
down
buoy
der Westen, the west einfahren, to enter (vehicle) aufspritzen, to splash up plaudern, to converse einander, one another zu, to, for
to
make
oneself comfortable
a good sailor sinken, to sink der Zollbeamte, Customs seefest,
der Inhalt, contents untersuchen, to overhaul neugeboren, 1 new-born
Gott
sich ankleiden, to dress
Dank
sei
Heaven
officer
I
Thank
!
sich auskleiden, to undress
Ich fühle mich wie neugeboren,
141
I feel like
a giant refreshed.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 73
Eine Schiffahrt von Ostende nach Dover
Ein grosser Wunsch von mir sollte sich endlich erfüllen. Meine Eltern versprachen, dass ich einen Freund in London besuchen dürfte. Ganz abgesehen von dem Wiedersehen mit ihm (ich hatte ihn seit einem Jahre nicht mehr gesehen), freute ich mich besonders auf die Seereise. Ich hatte immer schon so viel von der Schönheit der See gehört und gelesen, dass ich mich danach sehnte, diese Schönheit mit meinen eignen Augen bewundem zu dürfen. Ich wurde nicht enttäuscht. Der Reisemorgen brach endhch an. Der Wettergott schien mir ganz freundhch zu sein, und die Sonne strahlte hell vom tiefblauen
Nach
Himmel
herab.
langen Eisenbahnfahrt von Wiesbaden kam ich um 4 Uhr in Ostende an. Ich mietete mir einen Gepäckträger, meine Koffer auf das Schiff zu bringen. Nebst allen anderen Reisenden passierte ich eine Sperre, wo mein Reisepass sorgfältig geprüft wurde. Man fragte mich, ob ich keine zollpflichtigen Sachen hätte. Ich Nachdem ich meine Koffer geöffnet hatte, verneinte. wurde ich vorbeigelassen. Ich ging über den Holzsteg auf das grosse Schiff. Es war ein belgisches Schiff. Ein paar Matrosen mit gebräuntem Gesicht und wetterharten Zügen liefen auf dem Deck herum. Ich sah mich Ich wurde bald mit einem ein wenig auf dem Schiff um. jungen Engländer bekannt, der diese Reise schon ein paarmal gemacht hatte und ein bisschen vertrauter mit allem war. Er zeigte mir, wo wir bequem sitzen könnten und vor dem Wind gut geschützt wären. Ein lautes, ohrenbetäubendes Sirenengeheul zeigte an, dass wir zum Abfahren fertig waren. Wir fuhren aus dem Hafen in einer
die offene See.
Die bunten Segel der Fischerboote sahen im Sonnenschein sehr schön aus. Die See, von einem angenehm frischen Wind ganz leicht gekräuselt, machte einen male-
142
REFLEXIVE VERBS rischen Eindruck.
Ostende, mit seinem schönen Strand
und den grossen Hotels rückte immer femer und femer. Wir fuhren an den Bojen vorbei, die im Wasser läuteten und sich schaukelten. Nach drei Stunden Fahrt konnten wir die weisse Küste von England sehen. Eine Stunde später plauderten die Reisenden lustig miteinander und suchten ihre Koffer, um sich zum Aussteigen fertig zu machen. Das Schiff fuhr in den Hafen von Dover ein. Die Sonne sank schon langsam im Westen. In Dover prüften die Einwanderungsoffiziere unsere Reisepässe und die Zollbeamten untersuchten unsere Koffer. Ich stieg in ein Abteil des wartenden D-Zuges nach London und machte es mir bequem. Ich liess mir eine Tasse englischen Tee bringen. Dann fühlte ich mich wie neugeboren. Gott sei Dank Ich war seefest gewesen !
!
Exercise 74
He
in the bathroom. She has already washed her hands. Have you any money on you? Did you repair the tyre yourself? The door opened and a tall man came in. She is dressing, I believe. Two boys were I feel quite queer (komisch). leaning against the door, conversing with one another. She turned quickly round. The Town Hall was in (the) Frederick Street (Friedrichstrasse). Not a leaf stirred. They sat down on the chair. Have you shaved? They quickly undressed. I am going to have a look round (in) the town. You are mistaken if you think (= believe) that I am a Frenchman. I have caught a cold. We have proposed to visit a few friends in Bonn. We lost our way in the wood. Do you remember the name (Der Name, des Namens) of our hotel? I am glad you have arrived. The child lay down on the bed and wept. Why (warum) are you getting so excited? My sisters are having a look at the shop windows. Wash yourself! Wash your hands! Do not turn round! Sit down, please! I have arranged to spend a few days in Dresden. is
washing himself
'43
:
LESSON
XXX
IMPERSONAL VERBS
We
must now deal with a number
Verbs,
i.e.
those with
The
es,
of
Impersonal
as their subject.
it,
translation of There
is.
There are
There is, there are (was, were) are rendered by es war, waren) or by es gibt, es gab (no plural form). Es ist is used where the space is hmited to a certain spot, es gibt when there is or there are refers to a wide or vague area. Compare the following: (i)
ist
(sind,
Es sind the
Es
einige
Kühe auf der
Wiese.
There axe some cows
in
field.
gibt viele schöne Dörfer in diesem Lande. There are beautiful villages in this country. ist kein Zucker übrig im Speiseschrank. There is no more
many Es
sugar in the cupboard. gibt keine Gespenster.
Es
Notice that es
There are no ghosts.
ist (sind) is
followed by the Nominative,
whereas es gibt takes the Accusative Es war ein König. There was a king. Es gibt keinen Menschen, der unsterblich
man who
is
is
no
was (once upon a time)
is
ist.
There
immortal.
Notice further that always es war: Es waren einmal
there
drei
Prinzen.
There were once three
princes.
In inversion the es with sein geben
is
omitted, but not with
:
Einmal war ein Mann. Once there was a man. Suddenly there was Plötzlich gab es einen lauten Krach. a loud crash.
144
:
IMPERSONAL VERBS Es
gibt
Es Es Es Es
may
be used in other tenses
hat gegeben, there has (have) been. hatte gegeben, there had been. wird geben, there will be. würde geben, there would be.
was, were) requires very careful thought into German. It is used so loosely and extensively in English that very often it is better to use another verb, like stand, lie, hang, to take place, to find oneself (sich befinden), etc. Note the following:
There
in
is {are,
translating
it
Es standen zwei Männer an der Strassenecke. There were two men (standing) at the street-corner. Es lagen einige Bücher auf dem Tisch. There were a few books on the
Es hingen
table. einige Bilder an der
Wand.
There were some
pictures on the wall. Es klopft jemand. There
is somebody knocking. Es riefen und sangen Männer und Weiber auf der Strasse. There were men and women shouting and singing in the
street.
Ein grosses Fest fand in diesem Saale
There was a
statt.
great feast in this hall.
The
following verbs are always Impersonal
es schneit,
it
•
snows
es regnet, it rains es bhtzt, it lightens es ist windig, es ist Nacht,
The
windy
it is
night
it is
folio \ving
are only accidentally used imperson-
ally: es wird dunkel, es klopft, there
it is
es zieht, there is es wird erzählt, dass es es
getting dark
a knock a draught
is
.
.
.,
it is
said that
wurde getanzt, there was dancing wurde getrunken und gesungen, there was drinking and singing
es
wurde
gepfiffen,
a whistle went (was blown)
145
:
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN The
following govern the Accusative
mich an,
es geht
mich
es freut
es
it
concerns
me
am freezing mich, I am glad
friert, I
wundert mich,
I
wonder annoys
es ärgert (verdriesst) mich,
it
es langweilt mich,
me
The es
it
bores
me
following govern the Dative
kommt mir
es scheint mir,
it seems (appears) to seems (appears) to me
vor, it
am cold I am afraid es tut mir leid, I am sorry es geht mir gut, I am well, am mir mir
ist kalt, I
mir mir
ist
ist
ist
me
bange,
...»
I feel
nicht wohl,
es geschieht mir,
it
.
.
getting on well
.
do not feel well happens to me, I happen to
I
I manage to, succeed in mir ein, it occurs to me es nützt mir nichts, it is of no use to me es gefällt mir, it pleases me, I like
es gelingt mir, es fällt
The
following are Impersonal as in English:
es folgt,
it
follows
es genügt,
it
suffices
es scheint,
it
appears
es schlägt,
it is
striking (clock)
Exercise 75
appeared quite funny to me. I am glad that you have arrived. It was snowing when we left Bonn. There were several soldiers in the inn. Were there any ships in the harbour? It was striking two o'clock as we drove past the Town Hall. I am sorry, we have no more Enghsh newspapers. Do you like it in Berlin? She does not Uke her new car. How are you getting on? Are there any stamps (die Briefmarke, singular) in the It
146
A NOTE
ON OVERGROWN
ADJECTIVES
Did she manage
to pass her examination? * people (die Person, sing.) are there in the compartment? There are no slaves (der Sklave) in this country. It bores me to stay here. So it appeared to me. I have succeeded ^ in learning this difficult language Please shut ^ the window, I am cold. (die Sprache). He is sorry he cannot come this evening. I felt a^ though I had not washed for (seit) weeks. That is no concern of yours. Is there a draught?
drawer?
How many
A NOTE ON OVERGROWN ADJECTIVES There is one construction, of which the Germans are very fond, that causes a good deal of difficulty in actual translation.
It consists in
using a long clause, including
an adjective before a noun. The clause is preceded by an article or a demonstrative, and the Past Participle is declined as an adjective. No exercises on this construction are given in this book, as it is a difficult one to use in turning EngUsh into German but as the construction frequently occurs in German you had better study carefully the following examples. We might say in English, an old man richly dressed. In German this would run, an old richly-dressed man = ein alter, reich gekleideter Mann. So the sentence, / saw the wood that he sold to the steamers stopping there, becomes ich sah das Holz, das er an die dort anlegenden Dampfer verkaufte. a
PcLst Participle, as
;
Die beiden, unmittelbar zusammenliegenden und nur durch eine schmale Veranda getrennten Blockhütten bestanden auch nur je aus einem Zimmer. The two immediatelylying-together-and-only-by-a-small-veranda-separated loghuts consisted (were made up) indeed only of a single
room *
*
'
(each).
/ pass an examination, ich bestehe eine Prüfung. Gelingen is conjugated with sein. To shut is more usually zu-machen, and to open, auf-machen.
147
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Here
all
the words joined together by hyphens really
make up one overgrown adjective qualif3dng Blockhütten. Jetzt hob sich langsam ihr dunkles, in Tränen schwimmendes Auge zu dem seinen. Now her dark,-in-tears-swimming eye rose slowly to his.
In plain EngHsh this might be, she slowly raised her dark eyes full of tears to his. Ich rette Dich von der Dir verhassten Verbindung. thee from the to-thee-hateful engagement.
In ordinary English the sense
:
the
we would
engagement which
I
rescue
use a verb to complete
is
hateful to thee.
Sometimes this qualifying clause runs to great length and includes subordinate clauses within itself: alte Hermann, ein tüchtiger Arbeiter, gab sich mit dem kleinen, aber trefflich rentierenden Geschäft vollauf zufrieden, und war mit den, allen alten ihm teueren
Der
Mustern und Formen völlig widersprechenden Zeichnungen des Malers Holaus, welche ihm eines Tages sein Sohn brachte, durchaus nicht einverstanden. Old Hermann, a capital workman, was quite content with the little-but-exceedingly-profitable business, and was not at all in sympathy with the (to-all-the-old,-to-him-dearpatterns-and-fashions-completely-opposed) drawings of the painter Holaus, which his son brought to him one day.
In the above,
all
between the parentheses
is
really
one
adjective qualifying drawings, though widersprechenden
the only word that " agrees with " Zeichnungen. In English we might split- up this enormous adjective like this: the drawings which were completely opposed to all the old patterns and fashions which were dear to him.
is
When in translation you come across a passage that seems to make nonsense, you will very often find that one of these sentence-adjectives is the cause. By seeing how much of the sentence you can hyphen together ais an adjective you will in most cases bring out the true meaning.
148
PART
II
KEY TO EXERCISES Exercise
I
The brother is poor. The father is not bad. Is the uncle here? No, he is there. Is the shop not here? Yes, it is here. The baker is often quite dishonest. The pupil is sometimes angry. Is the apple not good? No,
bad. Is the garden beautiful? Yes, it is Is the teacher always friendly? No, he is sometimes angry. Is the uncle poor? No, he is quite it
is
beautiful.
rich.
Exercise 2
Die Brüder sind arm. Die Väter sind nicht schlecht. Sind die Onkel hier? Nein, sie sind dort. Sind die Läden nicht hier? Ja, sie sind hier. Die Bäcker sind Die Schüler sind manchmal böse. oft ganz unehrHch. Sind die Äpfel nicht gut? Nein, sie sind schlecht. Sind die Gärten schön? Ja, sie sind schön. Sind die Lehrer immer freundlich? Nein, sie sind manchmal Sind die Onkel arm? Nein, sie sind ganz reich. böse. Exercise 3
The
is Is the nut ripe? The cow is not brown. The maid is not very tall. Is the night not dark? Is the sausage ready? The wall is very beautiful. Is the hand brown? No, it is white. Is the cow thirsty? No, it is hungry. The city is not old, it is new. Is the mouse always small? The maid is sometimes very friendly. The nut is old and sour. The night is quite black. The maid is tall and thin.
city
very
old.
149
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 4
Sind die Nüsse reif? Die Die Städte sind sehr alt sind nicht braun. Die Mägde sind nicht sehr Sind die Nächte nicht dunkel? Sind die Würste gross. fertig? Die Wände sind sehr schön. Sind die Hände braun? Nein, sie sind weiss. Sind die Kühe ^durstig? Nein, sie sind hungrig. Die Städte sind nicht alt, sie Sind die Mäuse immer klein? Die Mägde sind neu. Die Nüsse sind alt und sind manchmal sehr freundlich. Die Nächte sind ganz schwarz. Die Mägde sind sauer. gross und dünn.
Kühe
Exercise 5
The wheel is round. is not very beautiful. the village not small and very old? The egg is not round. The roof is red. The book is not too heavy. No, it is almost too full. Is Is the glass not empty? No, it is very long and difficult. Is the word easy? No, it is very small. The house is fairly the child big? The It is square. tall. Is the field round or square? The dress is quite new but it is not very beautiful. Is the house not too low? leaf is long and green. The song
Is
Exercise 6
Die Lieder sind nicht sehr schön. Die Räder sind Die rund. Sind die Dörfer nicht klein und sehr alt? Die Bücher Eier sind nicht rund. Die Dächer sind rot. Nein, sind nicht zu schwer. Sind die Gläser nicht leer? Sind die Wörter leicht ? Nein, sie sie sind fast zu voll. Sind die Kinder gross? sind sehr lang und schwer. Nein, sie sind sehr klein. Die Häuser sind ziemlich hoch. Sind die Felder rund oder viereckig? Sie sind viereckig. Die Kleider sind ganz neu, aber sie sind nicht sehr Sind die schön. Die Blätter sind lang und grün.
Häuser nicht zu niedrig?
150
KEY TO EXERCISES Revision Exercise
Sind die Gärten lang und schön? Sie sind schön, aber sie sind nicht sehr lang. Ist der Schneider immer ehrlich? Ist das Glas immer Ja, er ist immer ehrHch. voll? Nein, es ist oft leer. Sind die Städte alt oder neu? Sie sind alt. Die Felder sind fast immer grün. Sind die Nüsse nicht reif? Die Äpfel sind zu grün und sauer. Ist das Haus gross oder klein? Es ist sehr gross. Sind die Läden immer leer? Nein, sie sind selten leer. Sind die Mägde gross und dünn? Nein, sie sind klein und dick. Sind die Kinder immer gut? Nein, sie sind manchmal sehr böse. Die Nacht ist lang und sehr dunDer Bruder ist arm, aber ganz ehrlich, und der kel. Vater ist reich, aber ganz unehrlich. Die Lieder sind zu lang und zu schwer. Hier ist das Dorf und dort (or da) Das Kind ist fast immer hungrig. ist das Haus. Exercise 7
Wir besuchen. sie?
Ihr sucht.
die Schüler?
Ihr sagt.
Sie sagen.
Telefonieren
Die Mägde kochen.
Die Brüder lachen.
Wir hören.
Spielen
Sie hassen.
Sie
suchen. Exercise 8
Träume Onkel
ich?
reist.
arbeitet.
Du
Das
antwortest. atmet.
Kind
Der Bruder
hasst.
Er zeichnet. Der Hören Sie? Sie
Ich lächle.
Antwortet
der Lehrer?
Exercise 9
Ich höre die Kuh. Der Onkel hasst die Magd. Die Mägde kochen die Würste. Wir lieben die Magd. Du suchst die Nüsse. Die Schneider machen die Kleider. Der Bruder besucht das Dorf. Ich reiche die Gläser. Die Kinder hassen das Lied. Sie zeichnet das Haus. Ich lächle, aber sie weint. (b) Wir suchen die Kühe. Ich höre die Mäuse. Schicken Sie die Bücher? Raucht sie? Tanzen Sie (a)
151
1
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Arbeitet
nicht?
Vater?
der
Spielen
Kocht die Magd die Blätter? du? Atmet das Kind?
Träume
die
ich?
Kinder? Weinst
Exercise 10
Do you
visit (are
you
the
The
shop.
visiting) the uncle?
The brother
looking) for the eggs.
visits
I
look (am
(is
visiting)
passes (is passing) the dress. looking) for the pupil. We hear
tailor
The teacher
looks (is the schoolboys (pupils). The baker sends (is sending) the sausages. The maid cooks (is cooking) the apple. She cooks (is cooking) apples.
Exercise
1
Sie das Lied? Ich besuche den Bruder. Wir den Lehrer. Der Schüler sucht Eier. Ich zeichne das Haus. Der Lehrer sagt das Wort. Der Vater besucht den Onkel. Sie antwortet nicht. Besucht der Onkel die Stadt? Du besuchst den Bäcker.
Hören
suchen
Exercise 12 to the father. The maid sends the apples to the brother. The father answers the tailor. The baker sends nuts and apples to the teacher. You pass the apple to the father. We send books and clothes to the maid. I pass the egg to the child.
The uncle passes the nuts
Exercise 13
Der Lehrer schickt dem Vater das Buch. reicht
dem Onkel
die Nüsse.
Lehrer die Bücher. Äpfel. reicht
Die Magd Die Schüler reichen dem
Wir schicken der Magd Eier und
Der Schüler antwortet dem Vater.
dem
das Glas.
Schneider das Kleid. Sie
antworten
dem
Ich reiche Lehrer.
Die Magd dem Bäcker
Exercise 14
The baker's shop is beautiful and new. The uncle's cows are big and brown. The wheels of the carriage
152
KEY TO EXERCISES (or cart) are
round.
The maid's dress is red. The walls The houses of the villages are The teacher opens glass is empty. The tailor's brother sends the dress
of the house are white.
small.
The
child's
the pupils* books. Do you not hear the children's to the father s maid. telephone to the baker's father. The tailor's songs? 1 maid sends apples and nuts to the baker's brother. The cow's horns are not very long. The maid's hands are small and white, but the brothers' hands are quite big and red.
Exercise 15
Die Hörner der Kühe smd nicht zu lang. Ich telefoniere dem Bruder der Magd. Das Dach des Hauses ist viereckig und rot. Der Vater des Schülers antwortet dem Lehrer. Die Magd des Onkels schickt dem Bruder des Schneiders Eier und Äpfel. Besucht er nicht den Schneider des Dorfes? Hören Sie nicht das Lied der Magd? Die Läden der Bäcker sind ganz voll. Der Bruder des Bäckers hört die Lieder der Kinder. Ich schicke dem Schneider das Kleid der Magd nicht. Exercise 16
Frenchmen. Where do the brothers of the We sailor hve? They do not live here. Did you tell the sailors' song to the boy? Are the Frenchman's nephews upstairs? No, they are downstairs. Are the boy's are
Hvmg
No, they are dead. The boys Did you not learn the sailor's song? We did not often visit the Frenchman's nephew. The horns of the ox are very long. They sent apples, nuts hares
drew the
and eggs
(alive)?
lions.
to the sailors.
Exercise 17
Wo
wohnen
Lebt der Hase noch? Nein, er dem Neffen des Bäckers das Buch des Jungen (des Knaben)? Wo ist das Haus des Matrosen? Es ist dort. Wo sind die Ochsen des Franzosen? ist tot.
Sie?
Schickten Sie
153
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Ist das Haus der Franzosen nicht Nein, es ist rot; dort ist das Dach des Hauses. Lernt der Neffe des Matrosen das Lied nicht? Rauchte der Neffe des Franzosen? Nein, er rauchte nicht, er
Sie sind nicht hier.
weiss?
arbeitete.
Spielen
die
lachte, aber sie weinte.
Kinder
des
Wohnten
Sie
Matrosen? Ich oben oder unten?
Exercise 18
Wir sind arm, aber
Sie sind reich.
Marie
ist
oben und
unten. Gretchen und Paula haben den Hasen. Er ist gross und braun. Hat der Matrose den Ochsen? Bist du noch dort? Ja, ich bin hier. Haben die Matrosen Gläser? Ja, sie haben Gläser, aber sie sind leer. Wo sind wir? Wir sind oben. Wo spielen die Neffen des Matrosen? Sie sind dort. Hast du Kühe und Ochsen? Nein, aber ich habe den Hasen.
Peter spielt
Exercise 19
The nuts and apples were not ripe. The teacher's nephew was upstairs. The maid's brothers were dead. The uncle's cows were big and brown. I had the hare, but it is dead. Was the pupil's father very angry? No, he was fairly friendly. Was the sailor's glass empty? No, it was quite full. Had you the garden? Yes, it was I was upstairs. very beautiful. Where were you? Exercise 20
Wo
war der Matrose? Er war nicht hier. Waren War der die Lehrer dort? Ja, und (auch) die Schüler. Lehrer immer freundhch? Nein, er war oft sehr böse. Hatten Sie das Haus dort? Ja, wir hatten das Haus und den Garten. Waren die Würste fertig? Nein, aber Ich war sehr durstig und wir hatten Äpfel und Nüsse. das Glas war ganz leer. Exercise 21
playing in the garden? This child is playing in the garden vnth the tailor's nephew. Were
Which
child
is
»54
KEY TO EXERCISES theie ten cows in that field?
No, there were eight oxen
Each schoolboy had four books. In which class are you? I am in this class. Were you very poor after the war? The baker sent the nephew out of the room. In which village did you Hve? We lived in this village there.
in that
house there.
Exercise 22 Hatte jedes Kind fünf oder sechs Äpfel? Welcher Lehrer schickte dem Vater dieses Buch? Die drei Kinder waren in der Kirche. Ich schickte die Kinder zu der (or zur) Schule. Waren acht oder neun Häuser in jenem Dorf (e) ? Es waren sieben. Es sind fünf Lehrer in dieser Schule, und es sind zehn Kinder in jeder Klasse. In welchem Haus(e) wohnen Sie? Welches Lied lernten Sie? Welchen Jungen schickten Sie aus der Klasse? Welche Kuh hörten Sie? Er schickte neun Eier mit dem Kleid (e). Jedes Kind in jenem Dorf hat drei oder vier Bücher. In welchem Zimmer ist der Neffe des Matrosen ? Er ist oben im (in dem) Zimmer des Onkels.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 24
The ambassador from
Berlin
is
now
in
London.
my
brother to Geneva. There are no apples in A Spaniard the garden. Our house is in this street. from Madrid is downstairs. Have you my gloves? He is the nephew of a teacher in Cologne. Where is your watch? Here it is. Otto's suit was in this room. Where is Marie? Is this not your Is this your hat? wrist-watch? Their maid's nephew is dead. I pass (hand) my uncle his hat. Our cows are in the field. I
sent
Marie Smith's uncle in Switzerland.
is
and Wilham's father
in Paris,
Fritz's sister
is
is
in her uncle's shop.
Exercise 25 Ihre Schickte er keine Strümpfe mit den Schuhen? Ich schicke oft meinen Kleider sind immer sehr gut. Neffen in Deutschland Äpfel und Nüsse von (or aus) meinem Garten. Wir besuchen manchmal unseren Onkel in der Schweiz. Schickten Sie Ihren Neffen nach Genf oder nach Rom? Die Schuhe von Max sind schwarz und Giselas Handschuhe sind braun. Wo ist das Haus Es ist in London. Sind die Zimmer Ihres Onkels? Er schickte keine Knöpfe seines Hauses sehr gross? mit ihren Kleidern. Haben Sie eine Pariser Zeitung?
Mein Onkel hat kein Auto. Schickten Sie die Bücher meines Bruders nach London? Die Häuser unserer Stadt sind gross und schön. Exercise 26 die
die Fürstin die Eiche der Honig
Blume
das Kindlein die Treppe der Regen
das Leben
der Edelstein die Fröhlichkeit das Büchlein die Melodie das Eisen der Löwe
die Eselei
der Teppich der Februar das Gold die Übersetzung die Schlacht
156
KEY TO EXERCISES der Garten (das) Griechenland
die
Sonne
der Liebling das Väterchen
die Stunde
der Jüngling die Reinheit
die
(das) Paris
der das der das der
Dummheit
(das)
die Freundschaft
der Diamant die Schrift
die Poesie
das Rauchen der Freitag die Frau
die
Helgoland
Käfig
Tanzen Monat Pferdchen
Kuchen Union
das Blümchen
Exercise 27
Have you sent the teacher's book to the baker's nephew? I have heard the lions in the wood. Has the maid not cooked (boiled) the apples? My brother has telephoned to my father. I have handed my uncle his This girl has played the piano. Do you like stick. smoking cigarettes? No, I always smoke a pipe. At Christmas we send our brother apples, nuts, books and Do you like Hstening to music on the wirecigarettes. less? We have hved in a house in that village. The soldiers have burnt the capital of the country. My has looked for the advertisement in the (news)We have called our dog Mops. Which book has your sister chosen? The soldiers have killed no women and children. In the summer we have often bathed in the sea. The pupils have played with the snow in the winter. I do not like dogs.
sister
paper.
Exercise 28
Hast du geträumt? Nein, ich habe jenes Haus geWelches Buch ist auf Ihrem Stuhl? Dieser zeichnet. Teppich ist sehr alt. Ich höre gern Radio. Raucht Ihr Vater gern? Ja, er hat immer Zigarren geraucht. Ich rauche oft Zigarren zu Weihnachten. Im Sommer haben wir unseren Onkel in der Schweiz besucht. Haben Sie
»57
.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Der Bäcker und Kind Margarete genannt. Der
jene Zeitungen nach Genf geschickt? seine
Frau haben
ihr
Schneider hat das Kleid nicht gemacht. Ottos Schwester hat Klavier gespielt, und meine Brüder haben die Musik an dem (or am) Radio gehört. Hat der Schneider das Kleid gebracht? In welchem Laden haben Sie jeneri Hut gekauft? Baden Sie gern in der See? Ich höre gern das Grammophon. Exercise 29
have heard nothing (I have not heard anything). Yesterday the sun was quite warm. To whom did you send the Christmas-tree? I have sent it to my nephew. Those clouds are big and black, they bring rain. The weather is very cold and there is fog (mist) on the river. When did you buy this suit? I bought it yesterday Was it cheap or dear? It was quite in that shop. cheap. The stars are small, but the moon is big. Have you sent the wrist- watch to your sister? Yes, I sent it Has your father sent the Christmasto her yesterday. Yes, he sent it to them yesterday. tree to the children? There are three dogs on the lawn my nephew is playing with them. I
;
Exercise 30
Die Sonne war gestern nicht sehr hell. Wann haben Es waren sieben oder acht Matrosen Sie geantwortet? auf dem Fluss. kaum das Lied
Dieser Fluss is sehr lang. Wir hörten der Kinder. Wen haben Sie in der Schweiz besucht? Diese Autos sind fast zu bilUg. haben Sie gestern telefoniert? Hier ist Ihr Hut. haben Sie ihn gekauft? Ich schicke ihn meinem Bruder. Die Kinder haben die Äpfel gesucht. Ich habe sie ihnen
Wem Wo
Wir haben nie(mals) Nebel in diesem Lande. hat ihm geantwortet? Haben Sie ihr telefoniert? der Wind" gestern sehr stark? Der Himmel war
gereicht.
Wer War
blau und die Wolken waren klein
158
und
weiss.
Das
1
KEY TO EXERCISES Wasser nicht
in
dem Teich war
gestern zu kalt. Wir haben Ich habe ihm nichts gesagt. Sie Wir hörten sie kaum.
gebadet.
lächelte nur.
Exercise 3
The spider was
hummed
(buzzed)
looked for honey. sugar.
big
and it
;
fat
;
it
spun a web.
The bee and
flew from flower to flower
What
does the wasp eat?
The donkeys brayed (were
It eats
braying), the pigs
grunted (were grunting), the dogs barked (were barking) and the cats mewed (were mewing). The farm-hand rode a horse. He fed the oxen, the sheep and the cows. His dog was running with him. He barked too loudly. The farmer struck him with his whip. The farmer's wife milked the cows in the stable. There are eight or nine farm-hands on the farm. They are always working. In the autumn they plough the fields. In the spring they sow. The farmer's name was Mr. Brown. He He drove in his cart to the got up and began his work. What did he eat? He ate bread and drank tea field. with sugar. His children sang songs. He gave them apples and nuts. Exercise 32
Der Bauer fuhr zu den Feldern. Er nahm seine Kinder. Sie sahen gern die Kühe, Schafe und Pferde auf den Feldern. Der Junge hiess Karl. Er ritt gern auf einem Esel. Er gab ihm Heu. Der Esel frisst gern Zucker. Karls
Er
Hund ist in dem Garten. Blumen.
Er ist
gross
und
stark.
Karl läuft nach ihm und schlägt ihn mit seiner Peitsche. Der Hund bellt laut. Die Sonne ist warm und hell. Die Bienen summen und fliegen von Blume zu Blume. Sie fressen gern Honig. Essen Sie gern Honig? Karl sieht die Spinne nicht. Sie ist gross und dick. Sie hat ein Gewebe gesponnen. Haben Sie gern Spinnen? Haben Sie Ihre Arbeit schon begonnen? Ich habe bricht die
159
TEACH YOURSELF^GERMAN meine Uhr zerbrochen. Hat Ihr Onkel seinem Neffen Uhr gegeben? Hast du deinen Tee getrunken? Ja, und ich habe mein Brot und meinen Honig schon
eine
gegessen.
Exercise 33
Our bank hes between the
post-oflfice and St. Mary's Church. I telephoned to my brother from a call-box. There are many skyscrapers in our city. The building of the League of Nations was in Geneva, in Switzerland. There were Bolsheviks in Russia and Fascists in Italy and Germany. The soldiers are at (before) the gate of the
They are Italians and Spaniards. went into the restaurant. I had a meal (= ate) and paid (for it). I came out of the restaurant and went to the market-place. I went into the cinema. The cinema was big and beautiful, but it was not a skyscraper. In the cinema there were men, women and children. Do you Hke going to the I often go to the theatre. theatre? I saw a hospital near the park. Opposite the big stores was the Town Hall. This building is ** magnificent. I said to a poUceman: Where is there a letter-box? " He replied: " There at the street-comer." I put a letter in the letter-box. My brother is employed He sells sugar, tea, etc. Behind the Town at a grocer's. Hall was St. Paul's Church. I went under a bridge. This bridge was very high. Over the bridge travel cars and horses. The traffic is very dangerous for pedestrians. city. I
Exercise 34
Buch auf einen
Stuhl. Das Wetter war ziemlich warm. Ich hef aus dem Zimmer. Ich ging durch die Tür und auf die Strasse. Es war dunkel, aber die Strasse war wegen der Strassenlampen ganz hell. Es waren acht Autos und drei Pferde auf der Strasse. Ich ging mit meinem Hund um die Stadt. Mein Hund
Ich legte mein
lief
zwischen die Autos.
Ich ging in eine Telefonzelle
i6o
KEY TO EXERCISES und telefonierte meiner Schwester. Sie ist in einem Krankenhaus neben der Paulskirche angestellt. Ich wohne mit meinem Bruder gegenüber dem Rathaus. Wir gingen nach rechts und kamen zu einer Brücke. Sie war Der ziemlich niedrig. Wir sahen auf den Verkehr. Verkehr ist seit dem Krieg (e) sehr gefährHch. Mein Onkel war in jenem Auto. Er fuhr zum (zu dem) Marktplatz. Er hat einen Laden dort. Er fährt oft über diese Brücke. Unser Dorf lag jenseit(s) des Flusses. Vor unserem Hause stand eine Strassenlampe. Wir (Wir gingen zum gingen in ein Restaurant, um zu essen. Essen in ein Restaurant.) Nach dem Essen ging ich nach Hause ohne meinen Hund, aber ich sah ihn zu Hause, vor der Tür. Exercise 35
To-morrow I shall go to the market-place. What will you do there? I shall buy two or three horses. Are they cheap or dear? They are fairly dear this year. Will you go by car? To-day the weather is very cold. We shall soon have (be having) snow. your uncle do (be doing) next Tuesday?
What will He will fly
(go by air) to Lisbon. This afternoon we shall go to the cinema. Do you like going to the cinema? My brothers will fly to Cologne one day. This evening my sister will play the piano and Else's brother will sing songs. I shall listen to the music on the wireless. I hke the wireless (I Hke listening to the wireless).
Yesterday I had a letter from my uncle. At Christmas he will send my father a Christmas-tree. He was in France last week. The weather was very cold there. They have been having fog and rain. I have never been to France. Have you ever been to Paris? Exercise 36
Nächsten Freitag werde ich nach Deutschland fahren. Werden Sie mit dem Auto nach London fahren? Ne^^
161
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN werde mit der U-Bahn (Untergrundbahn) fahren. Sie in Deutschland tun? Ich werde einen oder zwei Freunde besuchen. Werden Sie mit dem Flugzeug fahren? Nein, ich fahre nicht gern mit dem Flugzeug. Waren Sie schon in Deutschland? Ja, ich war letztes Jahr dort. Zu welchem Bahnhof werden Sie gehen? Nach Liverpool Street. Das Wetter ist ich
Was werden
warm
nicht sehr
gewesen. Exercise 37
ein grosser
Baum
eines grossen
eine kleine
Blume
einer kleinen Blume keines blinden
kein blinder
Mann
Baumes
Mannes ein kleines
Mädchen
welche breite Strasse der starke Hund die kluge Kusine
eines
kleinen
Mäd-
chens welcher breiten Strasse
grosse kleine
Bäume Blumen
keine blinden
Männer Mädchen
kleine
welche breiten Strassen
der taube Vetter
des starken Hundes der klugen Kusine des tauben Vetters
die starken Hunde die klugen Kusinen die tauben Vettern
die hässliche alte
der hässlichen alten
(see p. 189. 6) die hässlichen alten
Frau kalter Wind derselbe schmutzige
Junge
Frau
Frauen
kalten Windes desselben schmutzigen Jungen
kalte Winde dieselben schmutzigen Jungen
Exercise 38
The sad girl is always weeping, German books are not always difficult. The fat baker's httle daughter gave a letter to the old tailor's clever nephew. A clever boy learns quickly. The little children played on the They do not like playing on the hard street. soft grass. The old grandfather is blind, and his old wife is very deaf. The pretty girl is wearing a new dress with red buttons. Charles has a clean handkerchief in the pocket of his brown suit. The traffic in these narrow streets is very dangerous. Two bhnd men went (were going) with their Pretty girls white dog across the broad (wide) street. are not always
silly.
162
KEY TO EXERCISES Exercise 39
Kleine Jungen (Knaben) sind fast immer schmutzig. Ich werde einen alten Freund in Genf besuchen. BUnde Männer sind nicht immer traurig. Die engen Strassen der alten Stadt waren sehr dunkel. Ich habe diesen unbequemen alten Stuhl nicht gern. Meine schöne Kusine sang französische, spanische und deutsche Lieder. Ich höre sehr gern gute Musik am Radio. Der italienische Gesandte kam gestern nach London. Maries Kusine trug ein grünes Kleid und einen weissen Hut. Welches deutsche Buch haben Sie gewählt? Exercise 40
The man
whom
spoke yesterday is the Mayor of great film-actress pla3-s a part in the film which we shall see this evening. The landlord of the " Red Lion " Inn, in which (where) I met the chauffeur to
I
A
Brussels.
of the film-actor Willi Fritsch yesterday, has been a
The cobbler who mended your brown shoes is the door. The butcher served (was serving) his customers, amongst whom was the maid of a great author. The basket in which she was carrying the apples and nuts was quite new. The dentist in whose house the policeman arrested the thief pulled out (extracted) my tooth sailor.
at
this
morning.
The
typist
who took down
this letter
is
dead. Exercise 41 I.
Der Briefträger, dessen Schwester unser Kinderist, hat einen Brief gebracht. 2. Der Mann,
mädchen mit
dem
ich gesprochen habe, ist der Neffe eines grossen
Die Schublade, in der (worin) ich den fast leer. 4. Die Frau, deren Mann wir gestern in der " Blauen Kuh " sahen, ist sehr reich. 5. Der Kellner bediente den Jäger, der bei einem sehr Richters.
Brief sah,
reichen
3.
war
Kaufmann
angestellt
163
ist.
6.
Der Dieb, der
die
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Armbanduhr einer grossen Filmschauspielerin stahl, ist der Bruder eines Polizisten. 7. Das Kino, in dem ich diesen Film sah, war gross und prachtvoll. 8. Der Arzt, der meinen Neffen geheilt hat, ist nach Ägypten gegangen. 9. Die Brüder, deren Flugzeug verunglückte, sind im Krankenhaus. Exercise 42 (Die zwei) Mädchen, deren Vater eine Film " Michael Kohlhaas " spielte, hörten
Die beiden
im Der Brief, den ich in dieser Schublade sah, war Das Kindermädchen, das die von Ihrem Bruder. Kinder spazieren geführt hat, ist aus Köln. Der Arzt, dessen Neffen ich gestern traf, heilte meine Schwester in der Schweiz. Das Haus, in dem er wohnte, hatte ein Die Stenotypistin, die rotes Dach und eine grüne Tür. diesen Brief nach Diktat schrieb, hat einen Bruder, der Der Mann, mit dem ich bei Ihrem Onkel angestellt ist. gestern sprach, ist der Wirt des " Lustigen Bauers." Das Cafe, in dem wir ihn trafen, ist neben dem Postamt (neben der Post). Alles, was wir sahen, war weiss. Der Briefträger hat einen Brief, der von Russland kommt. Am Bahnhof sahen wir die Brüder, die letztes Jahr nach Amerika flogen. Der Kellner, dessen Brüder das Auto der Schauspielerin stahlen, bediente den Schutzmann, der sie verhaftete. Nichts, was er tut, ist sehr Das Wetter war hell und warm, was unsere Arbeit gut. grosse Rolle
Radio.
leicht
machte. Exercise 43
Dann wohnte
armer Fischer in diesem Dorfe. Bald trafen wir die Sekretärin des Schriftstellers am Bahnhof. 3. Dann bauten die Russen neue Schulen I.
ein
2.
und Universitäten. Zimmer.
5.
Eines
4.
Plötzlich
Tages
kam
Hause.
164
der Hund aus dem der Schneider nach
lief
KEY TO EXERCISES Exercise 44 I.
Er ging
ins Hospital, weil er
ich nicht dort war,
kam
krank war.
er nach Hause.
3.
2.
Da
Ich werde
den Brief schreiben, sobald (wenn) ich nach Hause komme. 4. Ich werde meinen Freund besuchen, bevor ich ins Kino gehe. 5. Er trägt keinen Mantel, obgleich 6. Da wir eine Erkältung hatten, es sehr kalt ist. gingen wir ins Bett. 7. Obgleich er sehr reich war, war er sehr traurig. 8. Das Mädchen ging ins Bett, da sie sehr müde war. 9. Wenn ich sie traf, lächelte sie immer. die ich Schublade öffnete, sah ich die IG. Als Taschenuhr. Exercise 45
Es
den See ruderte. Er da die Fische nicht hungrig waren. Meine Kinder hörten die Lieder der deutschen Kinder am Radio, während ich diese Aufgabe schrieb. Sobald er nach Hause kommt, wird er Ihnen telefonieren. Schlössen Sie nicht die Türen (machten Sie nicht die Türen zu), bevor Sie ins Bett gingen? Wenn ich nach Berlin fahre, werde ich Ihren Onkel besuchen. Da sie nicht zu Hause waren, steckten wir den Brief in den Briefkasten. Es schneite, als wir zum Bahnhof fuhren. Er spricht regnete, als der Fischer über
fing keine Fische,
Deutsch, Französisch, Englisch und Italienisch, obgleich er nie (mals) in diesen Ländern gewesen ist. Sie arbeiteten, bis es ganz dunkel war. Als das (Dienst)mädchen an die Tür kam, bat der Mann um Brot und Tee. Wir fuhren mit dem Boot über den See, obschon es ganz dunkel war. Exercise 46
The
answer me. Did you not meet her Who gave you this beautiful book?
thief did not
at the station?
There are many cherries and apples in the garden. Yes, I have already seen them. I shall give some to my friend. My Uttle sister asked me for sweets. I gave her some, but she has already eaten them. " Another
»65
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN glass, please," I said to the waiter,
but he did not hear
At Christmas Uncle Fritz will pay us a visit. We Do you hke rolls still have some butter in the pantry. with butter and cheese? We have no more oranges. Do you drink coffee with or without cream? With cream, Both brothers were there. Have you if you have any. no other bananas? I have some more, but they are not ripe. I shall buy you an ice, if you pick me some peas and beans in the garden. Have you any more tea in the I see nobody there (I pot? Is anybody at the door? do not see anybody there). They have heard everything you told me yesterday. Everyone in the village has his me.
long garden, in which he has potatoes, beans, peas, People drink a lot of coffee in apples, cherries, etc. Germany. I had no plate, but the waiter has brought
me
one.
Exercise 47
mehr Tee in England. Haben Sie (etwas) im Speiseschrank? Ja, ich habe ein wenig. Wenn Sie nicht genug Bücher haben, habe ich noch eines Unser Onkel gab uns einige Bonbons und Apfelhier. Ich esse gern Apfelsinen. Der Jäger trank noch sinen. Es sind noch einige Kartoffeln im ein Glas Wein. Garten, wenn Sie nicht genug hier haben. Die spanischen Mädchen pflückten Apfelsinen und Zitronen und Haben Sie sie gaben uns einige (davon = of them). Milch oder Sahne? Das Frühstück in der " Blauen Kuh " war ziemlich billig, aber das Mittagessen im " Roten Löwen " war sehr teuer, und man gab uns keinen Kaffee. Ich esse Käse nicht gern. Ist noch etwas Zucker in der (Zucker) dose? Der Kellner hat mir ein anderes Messer gebracht, da dieses schmutzig Zum Abendessen werden wir Kirschen und Bananen ist. mit Sahne haben. Der Kellner wird Ihnen noch etwas Suppe bringen. Jedermann war schläfrig, aber niemand All(e) seine Freunde sind in Amerika. ging ins (zu) Bett.
Man
trinkt
Kaffee
166
KEY TO EXERCISES Einige Schafe waren auf dem Feld. Er spricht ein (sehr) wenig Deutsch, aber kein Spanisch. Wer hat all(e) die Kirschen gegessen?
Exercise 48 father said to the children: " Do you want to go a run in the car this evening to Berhn? " " Oh, yes, rather! " cried the children. They had to wear their new clothes (suits), because they were to visit their (girl and boy) cousins in Berlin. They could not (were not able to) leave the house before three o'clock, because their mother was not ready. " Can I go to Berlin by bicycle (on my bike)? " asked young Charles. " Oh, no," answered the father. "It is much too slow by bicycle. You must come with us." Soon they were all ready. The father can drive very " I must buy some more petrol," he said, " the well. (petrol-) tank is nearly empty." So they stopped at a petrol-station. Then they came to a cross-roads. The red light was showing and they had to wait. Mr. Smith's car can chmb well and they travelled rapidly on the way to Berlin. At half-past three they were in Berlin. There they saw a poor motor-cyclist who was repairing a burst tyre. On (in) the wide streets of Berlin they saw 'buses, trams, cars, taxis and bicycles. There the traffic They went up a one-way street, so is very dangerous. they had to go backwards. Above the city they saw a large aeroplane which was to fly to America. Many pedestrians were hurrying across the street and it was (a) good (thing) that the horn (hooter) was in order. But they could always (were always able to) go pretty (fairly) quickly and overtook (passed) many other cars. Then the car stopped and Mr. Smith beckoned to a poHceman. He had to ask the way. Soon, however, they were before the (their) uncle's house.
The
for
167
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 49
können nach Berlin fahren (or gehen), wenn Sie wollen. Ich soll heute abend den Zahnarzt besuchen. Darf ich hier rauchen? Ich will meinen Hund im Park spazieren führen. Er sollte gestern nach Paris fliegen, wurde aber plötzUch krank. Wir mussten zu Fuss nach Hause gehen. Da er kein Deutsch sprechen konnte, nahm er mich mit. Sie sollen gleich zu Bett gehen. Sie
Soll ich Hier spricht man Deutsch. (etwas) Brot kaufen? Sie sollen mit niemand sprechen. Wir konnten wegen des Nebels das Flugzeug nicht sehen. Dürfen wir (können wir) heute abend ins Kino gehen? Wir mussten mit der Taxe fahren. Wenn das Wetter warm ist, können Sie heute nachmittag im See baden. Wir wollen Ich kann es Ihnen nicht Ihre Kühe und Schafe sehen. Da mein Bruder Sie nicht besuchen kann, sagen. schickt er Ihnen einen Brief.
Exercise 50
Tragen Sie diesen Brief auf die Post. Gehen wir um Ich habe nach Berlin fahren die Stadt spazieren. müssen. Sie hat Spanisch lernen müssen. Sie haben Er soll morgen London Ihr Buch nicht finden können. Hast du diesen Film sehen können? Er verlassen. Meine Schwestern mussten mit wollte nicht antworten. dem Flugzeug fahren. Ich kann kein Schwedisch
Kann
Holländisch? (sprechen: in such sprechen is often omitted). Wir haben Ihnen nicht viele Äpfel schicken können, da der Sommer zu schlecht gewesen ist. Wir konnten wegen des Nebels nicht sehr schnell fahren. Sie können man kann) zum Bahnhof mit (if you can is impersonal dem Autobus fahren. Wollen Sie uns ein Lied singen? Ich kann nicht singen, da ich eine böse Erkältung habe. (sprechen).
expressions the
sie
infinitive
:
i68
KEY TO EXERCISES Exercise 51
Waiter, bring us two glasses of beer, please. Taxi, Give me an ice, |)lease. drive quickly to the station! Let us go to the cinema. Please weigh this letter for me. Please pass me the sugar. Let us go to the Open the door, please. Ask the theatre this evening. policeman the way. Let us go to London to-morrow. Please tell me where I can find a taxi. Buy me some Give me a London (news) paper. (a few) cigarettes. Exercise 52
They looked for a fast train (an express) in the time-table. Their luggage was quite ready. They went by taxi to the Mr. Miller bought the tickets at the bookingstation. -office. They had to hurry to platform nine. The Hilda bought some sweets porter carried the luggage. and Mrs. Miller chose a few newspapers from the bookstall. As the train was late they waited for a Then the train came in. The bit in the waiting-room. porter put the luggage in the luggage van and Mr. They all entered an empty Miller gave him a tip. compartment. Hilda and Max chose the corner seats, Mr. Miller as they wanted to look out of the window. put his attache case on the rack. The engine whistled and they then set off (then off they went). As they were in a smoking compartment Mr. Miller began to smoke. He Ukes (smoking) cigarIn Aix-la-Chapelle they had to change. At ettes. half-past twelve they went along the corridor to the dining-car. After lunch they returned to their compartment. Max had to go to the lavatory, because his hands were frightfully dirty. Mr. Miller yawned. He was tired and he began to sleep. When they arrived punctually in Cologne they alighted quickly. At the station they saw Uncle Otto and Aunt Gisela. A porter fetched their luggage from the luggage-van. Mr. Miller gave up the tickets and they left the station. They
The
Millers
wanted
to go to Cologne.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN travelled (went)
up a
the house of their
house.
They were
long,
(=
narrow Uncle.
the)
all tired
and came to They entered the
street
and hungry.
Exercise 53
Geben Sie mir drei Hinfahrtskarten nach Stettin, Lehnen Sie nicht zum Fenster hinaus! Träger, tragen Sie, bitte, mein Gepäck zum Schnellzug nach bitte!
Chauffeur; fahren Sie schnell zum Bahnhof, werde ich den Zug nach Koblenz versäumen. Muss ich in Aachen umsteigen? Ich verliess das Haus um halb sieben. Alle Plätze waren besetzt. Wir fuhren letzten Montag nach Berlin zurück. Ist ein Platz frei für mich? Der Durchgangszug fährt um halb zehn ab. Tante Marie holte sie vom Bahnhof ab. Haben Sie die Verbindung in Kassel versäumt? Ein grosser Herr trat in das Zimmer herein und sprach zu mir. Mein Hut ist in dem Speisewagen. Wenn Sie mit diesem Schnellzug fahren, werden Sie einen Zuschlag bezahlen müssen. Stellen Sie Ihren Koffer hin! Wohin fahren Sie? Wo haben Sie Ihre Handschuhe hingelegt? Wo sind die Fahrkarten?
Köbi!
sonst
(a)
Exercise 54 Fünf und drei
Zweimal
drei ist sechs.
Viermal fünf
ist
Fünfmal sechs Siebenmal
zwanzig.
ist dreissig.
drei
ist
einund-
ist
Neun und
sechs
Neunzehn
und
acht.
fünfzehn. siebzehn ist sechsunddreissig. Dreizehn und vierzehn ist siebenist
undzwanzig.
zwanzig.
Elfmal elf ist einhunderteinundzwanzig. geteilt Siebenundzwanzig durch drei ist neun. Einundachtzig geteilt durch neun ist neun.
Dreiundvierzig und achtunddreissig ist einundachtzig. Achtundneunzig weniger siebenundfünfzig ist einundvierzig.
Einhundertneununddreissig weniger siebenundachtzig
ist
zweiundfünfzig.
Vierundvierzig vier ist
elf.
geteilt
durch
Eintausendsiebenhundertundsechzehn weniger siebenhunderteinundvierzig ist neunhundertfünfundsiebzig.
170
KEY TO EXERCISES Einhunderteinundzwanzig geteilt durch elf ist elf,
Dreitausendneunhunderteinundzwanzig weniger eintausendneunhundertvierundsechzig ist eintausendneunhundert-
Zweihundertundfünfzig geteilt durch fünfzig ist fünf.
Eintausendachthundertachtundachtzig weniger siebenhundertsiebenundsiebzig ist eintausendeinhundertundelf.
siebenundfünfzig.
(6)
Um ,, ,, ,, ,,
,,
„
zwanzig Minuten nach drei; zehn Minuten nach zwölf; Viertel vor elf;
zehn Minuten nach elf; zehn Minuten vor vier;
Uhr (um
ein
„ „ „
halb sechs; Viertel vor sechs Viertel nach sieben
„
—
Viertel vor drei;
„
,,
(c)
—
—
neun Uhr halb sieben zwölf Uhr vierzig Minuten nach eins (zwanzig Minuten vor zwei);
eins)
;
;
;
zwanzig Minuten nach eins; Viertel nach acht.
Ein Drittel; zwei Fünftel; vier Neuntel; ein halb; drei
Viertel;
fünf Achtel; sechs Fünfundzwanzigstel.
erste, zweite, sechste, achte,
sieb(en)te, elfte,
zehnte, vierundzwanzigste, siebzehnte, zwanzigste, hundertste, tausendste.
zwölfte, acht-
dreissigste,
neunund-
Exercise 55
London Die Erde
ist ist
nicht so gross wie die Vereinigten Staaten. kleiner als die Sonne. Die Themse ist
nicht so lang wie der Rhein.
Rom.
Das Gold
ist
Paris i^t nicht so alt wie nicht so hart wie das Eisen. Die
Stadt ist grösser als das Dorf. Die Luft ist nicht so schwer wie das Wasser. Der Elefant ist stärker als der Mann. Die Katze ist falscher als der Hund. Der Knabe ist klüger als (nicht so klug wie, ebenso klug wie) das Mädchen. Der Schmetteriing ist nicht so schnell wie die Schwalbe. Die See ist tiefer als der See. Der Eiffelturm ist höher als der Kölner Dom.
171
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Exercise 56
How much
do these apples cost? Are these cherries Marie dearer than those (there)? These are dearest. Ottilie sings beautifully, the nicest girl in the village. Hilda sings more beautifully, but Else sings most beautiWhich boy is the cleverest? Otto is the cleverest, fully. but Konrad is almost as clever. Is Belgium not as big This girl is as pretty as her sister. The as Holland? older a man gets, the less he can learn. A higher (taller) Can you speak tree than that (one) is in our garden. German? Yes? So much the better. The sooner we The more he arrive the longer we shall have to wait. drank the thirstier he became. These bicycles are the Otto is the tallest boy in the class. It is pleasanter best. here in the garden than in the house. Irmgard is more We must travel more carediligent than her brother. These cherries are the sweetest. fully through this fog. The garden looks prettier in the summer than in the is
winter.
Exercise 57
Je
fieissiger er arbeitet,
desto weniger lernt
er.
Das
Wasser ist heute kälter als gestern. Es wird dunkler. Es wurde langsam heller. Otto ist gross, Konrad ist Marie singt süsser grösser, und Wilhelm ist der grösste. Sind Sie (eben)so faul wie Ihr als ihre Schwester. Bruder? Dieser Junge sieht nicht so klug aus wie sein Bruder.
Je länger wir hier warten, desto dunkler wird
wenn wir nach Hause zurückgehen. Ich habe wenig, sie hat weniger und ihre Kusine hat am
es sein,
sehr wenigsten.
Dieser Hund ist der treueste. Ist jenes Messer schärfer als dieses? Ich antwortete aufs beste. Ich werde die grössten und süssesten Äpfel kaufen. Der Lehrer wird dem klügsten Jungen dieses Buch geben. Exercise 58
These gloves are mine, those are yours. Do you always read the same paper? My house is not so big
172
KEY TO EXERCISES Their (your, her) garden is longer than ours. have read my book and my brother's. I have seen Those who come (too) his car, but not theirs (hers). We always eat at the same restaurlate must wait here. He has always hved in the same street. He who ant. does not work shall not eat. She has found my hat, but not his. as yours. I
Exercise 59
Das
sind Ihre Bücher, nicht meine.
klüger, als der ihrige.
dasselbe Buch.
fleissig
ist
Sein Bruder
arbeiten,
ist
schärfer als das
Beide Tanten wohnen in derselben Stadt.
deinige. liest
Mein Messer
Er
Die, die (Diejenigen, welche) nicht
werden nichts lernen.
sind höher als die unsrigen.
Sie kauft
Ihre
immer
Bäume
dieselben
Bonbons.
Unsere Stadt ist grösser als die Ihrige. Seine Arbeit ist besser als die seiner Schwester. Sein Haus ist nicht so klein wie das seines Onkels. Die, die (Diejenigen, welche) am besten arbeiten, können früh nach Hause gehen. Exercise 60
Last
summer we spent our summer-hoHdays on
the
North coast of Germany. We packed our trunks (cases) and set out on the 28th August for Swinemünde. The weather was magnificent during the whole month which there. We stayed (Uved) in a large hotel which was near the beach. Every (each) morning we got up early. After breakfast we went down to the beach. We took (carried) our bathing-suits with us and when the weather was warm we put on our bathing-costumes and caps and swam in the sea. I cannot swim like a fish, yet I like swimming. Some little children, whose parents were sitting in deck-chairs, were making sand-castles. Others played football or looked for shrimps and crabs with After bathing we lay on the warm sand and their nets. took a sun-bath. Soon we became quite brown, almost
we spent
»73
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN like black men. One day could not swim very well. drowning.
we saw a boy
A
in the sea. He fisherman saved him from
Sometimes we went for an outing in a fishing-smack. That was very nice and we had a lot of fun (we enjoyed ourselves). We dived from the boat into the sea. It was quite nice when the waves were big. We often cHmbed up the cliffs, or went for a walk along the beach. My father had hired a beach-hut and so we could have coffee in the afternoon on the beach. My father often played golf on the beautiful golf-links. We were quite sad when we had to return home. Exercise 61
Ich will morgen früh nach Stuttgart abfahren. Im Herbst müssen wir die Äpfel pflücken und die Felder pflügen. Wo ist der Korb, in den ich die Äpfel legte? Zu Weihnachten haben wir vier Tage Ferien. Wir dürfen hier nicht rauchen, denn es ist verboten. Das Kind, dessen Eltern tot sind, ist sehr klug. Ich kann diesen Brief nicht lesen, weil er so schlecht geschrieben Darum müssen Sie mir den Brief zeigen, den Sie ist. heute morgen geschrieben haben. Gestern regnete es, Der Mann, mit dem ich als ich die Strasse herauf kam. Bevor Sie ausgestern sprach, ist der Bürgermeister. gehen, zeigen Sie mir die Zeitung, die Sie heute morgen gekauft haben. Er ging gestern abend aus, obgleich (obschon) er krank war. Da es so spät war, ging er Während er seinen gleich (sogleich, sofort) zu Bett. Mantel anzog, hörte er jemand an der Tür. Exercise 62
Dieser Briefkasten wird dreimal am Tage vom BriefDieser Brief wurde gestern von meiner träger geleert. Ist der Brief schon geschrieStenotypistin geschrieben. ben? Ich werde meinen Freund in Bonn besuchen. Das Telegramm wurde gestern geschickt. Als wir ankamen.
^74
KEY TO EXERCISES war die Tür schon geschlossen. Das Haus ist schon gebaut worden. Dieses Kleid wurde letztes Jahr vom Schneider gemacht. Exercise 63
meinem Bruder gebeten worden, nach zu fahren. Diese Äpfel wurden gestern von den
Ich bin von Berlin
Kindern des Bäckers gepflückt. Wann werden diese geschrieben werden? Das Kind ist bestraft worden. Diese Zeitung wird jeden Tag von Tausenden von Männern und Frauen gelesen. Ist das Auto schon repariert worden? Sind Sie von jemand gesehen worden? Der Briefkasten wird jetzt vom Briefträger geleert. Dieses Kleid wird vom Schneider gemacht werden. Wann wurde dieses Buch geschrieben? Briefe
Exercise 64
thanked him for his letter. He died of gout. He was annoyed at my answer. I asked for the price of the apples. He has translated this book from the German, while he was staying with his aunt. He ordered the man to wait for the train. The girl blushed at this I
answer. I entrust this work to you. To whom does the house with the red roof belong? Allow me to help you. I read the letter out to my mother. Describe to me the city in which (where) you Hve. Do you remember the day (when) we met the man? What has become of your brother? The boy (lad) leant against the wall. Follow me, please. Do you like it here in England? I do not like the Enghsh weather. You can rely on him. When did you give this wrist-watch to your sister? The others laughed and made fun of the poor boy. The little girl was afraid of the big cow. The poor man asked me for money. We trembled with cold. Exercise 65
Die Mädchen und Jungen (colloquially: Mädels und Jungens) tanzten vor Freude. Mein Neffe ist Seemann
75
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Ich erstaunte über seinen Brief. An wen Fragen Sie nach dem Preis des Mantels im Schaufenster! Reichen Sie bitte Ihrem Bruder den Ich Zucker. Gefiel Ihnen der Film gestern abend? glaube (es) ihr nicht. Haben Sie nicht nach dem Arzt Ich fürchte, dass wir morgen schlechtes geschickt? Wetter bekommen werden. Ich erlaubte den Kindern, Wir erzählten dem Schutzin dem Garten zu spielen. mann die ganze Geschichte. Er bat mich um Geld, aber ich schlug es ihm ab. Ich erinnere mich nicht des Mädchens. Er regte sich über meine Antwort auf und Er lehnte sich an befahl mir, ihm das Buch zu zeigen. die Tür und wollte mir nicht erlauben auszugehen. Fürchten Sie sich vor Löwen? Dort ist der Mann, dem wir in dem " Roten Löwen " begegnet sind.
geworden.
denken Sie?
Exercise 66
Before going to bed he wrote a letter. After reading Putting on his coat and hat the paper he went out. he ran out of the room. Bathing is forbidden here. He sat in the garden smoking a pipe. Who is the girl wearing the green hat? We heard our cousin singing. He remained standing at (or by) the door. Knowing he was at home I telephoned him. On looking out of He saw them the window I saw our doctor's car go by. He smoked while shaving. {or her) playing tennis. The little girl came running and spoke to us. I stood up on seeing the man enter, but my sister remained sitting. Exercise 67
Als ich den Brief auf dem Tisch sah, las ich ihn. "Sind Sie fertig? " fragte er, indem er seinen Mantel anzog. Er stand bei {or neben) der Tür und las eine Zeitung. Klavier. stehen.
Der Mann
arbeitete,
und
seine
Frau
spielte
Ich bat ihn sich zu setzen, aber er blieb Als wir die Schublade öffneten, fanden wir
176
KEY TO EXERCISES einen Brief von ihm. Wer ist der Mann, der auf dem Wir fanden sie weinend. grossen schwarzen Pferd reitet ? Bevor er ausging, telefonierte er seinem Bruder. Da wir wussten, dass es spät war, beschlossen wir, unseren
Onkel nicht zu besuchen. Nachdem er die Anzeige in der Zeitung gesehen hatte, telefonierte er seiner SchweDer Mann ster. Der sterbende Matrose bat um Wasser. Als ich die Strasse entlang ging, begegnete ich stirbt. meinem Zahnarzt. Ich kannte diesen Arzt. Er weiss nichts.
Exercise 68 I am going swimming this afternoon with my friend. Have you promised to send him a book? My uncle
taught
me to play the piano.
I
am getting (I get) my hair
have had a new house built. Where did you Help me to get in (i.e. a vehicle). learn to play golf? Must you go home now? We shall have some new He decided to go by car clothes made (for us) in Paris. decided to have my hair cut. My I to Dresden. Do father has promised to me(;t me at the station. you wish to leave (set out) to-morrow? I ordered the waiter to bring me a bottle of wine. I have had a bottle We saw him riding in the of wine brought (for me). wood. Wash his hands! Have you washed your hands? The barber has cut the man's I have washed his hands. hair. Please do not cut my hair too short. Have you I tinted your finger-nails and plucked your eyebrows? have my shoes cleaned. Has he gone home? They have not yet arrived. My brother flew to Amsterdam cut.
I
yesterday.
Exercise 69
Ich hörte Sie im Garten singen.
Wer
hat Sie Klavier
Ihnen einige Zigaretten kaufen, wenn ich in der Stadt bin? Wir sind zum Bahnhof geeilt, um Sie abzuholen. Sind Sie in Russland gereist? spielen gelehrt?
Soll ich
'77
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Bäume in Ihrem Garten sind sehr hoch gewachsen. Ich Hess gestern das Gras des Rasens schneiden. Ich werde nächste Woche einen neuen Anzug machen lassen. Wir sind oft über diese Felder gewandert {or gezogen). Sind Sie den ganzen Tag zu Hause gebUeben? Können Ich habe Ihnen Sie mir dieses Rad reparieren lassen? Soll ich Ihnen diese Saein Glas Wein bringen lassen. chen zuschicken lassen? Ich habe beschlossen, mir die Haare ondulieren zu lassen. Wollen Sie mich tauchen Wir versprachen, ihnen jede Woche einen Brief lehren? zu schicken. Er bat sie, ihm zu schreiben. Haben Sie dem Kellner befohlen, noch etwas Brot zu bringen? Nein, ich habe einige Zigaretten bestellt. Wollen Sie Radio hören? Die
Exercise 70
Taxi, drive to an up-do-date but cheap hotel. to
I want Here is a good " Riesenfiirstenliof." Good! I'll get much do I owe your Three marks
spend a few weeks
hotel.
the
Sir,
out here.
How
in this
town.
Thank you, Sir! That's is a tip for you. (Not at all. Don't mention it)! Can I have Yes, certainly! What {or get) a room for a few nights? I do not want to spend too much. sort of one? The man said he had a few nice rooms which were quite I replied that I should like to quiet and well lighted. He said I could go up by lift: Number 15. see them. He replied that it was in the I asked where the lift was. I asked the lift-boy if {or whether) the hotel corner. had central heating. " Yes, of course! " he answered. He asked to what room I was going. I said I should spend a few days there. I asked if {or whether) the Whether the hotel had electric hotol had a garage. He light (= was lighted by electricity) in all rooms. replied that there was a bathroom near my room and that there was central heating in all rooms. I asked him if {or whether) 1 rang for the porter.
fifty? all
Here
right
178
KEY TO EXERCISES he would wake me up at 5 o'clock. He replied that he would not forget. I pulled up the blind and looked down upon the street. Exercise 71
Der Chauffeur
ganz fertig sei (or wäre) ganz fertig). Ich fragte ihn, ob er wüsste, wo das Hotel Bismarck sei (or wäre). Er sagte, dass er es nie{mals) gesehen hätte. Ich fragte den Schutzmann, ob die Post (das Postamt) in jener Strasse wäre (or sei). Sie sagte, dass er Montag käme (or kom(or:
sagte, dass er
sagte, er sei (wäre)
men würde). Das Mädchen sagte, dass sie sein Auto in der Garage gesehen hätte. Der Mann sagte mir, dass sie nach England mit dem Flugzeug gefahren wäre (or sei). Ich antwortete, dass ich den Zug versäumt hätte. Sie fragte mich, ob ich mit ihnen spielen möchte. Es leben unsere Freunde aus Deutschland! Exercise 72
Wenn Sie das Geld hätten, möchten Sie nach den Vereinigten Staaten (fahren) ? Wenn ich Sie wäre, würde ich gleich nach Hause gehen. Wäre mein Freund zu Hause gewesen, dann hätte ich bei ihm übernachtet Sie hätte den (hätte ich die Nacht bei ihm verbracht). Zug versäumt (Si würde den Zug versäumt haben), wenn nicht mit der Taxe zum Bahnhof gefahren wäre. Ich hätte Ihnen telefoniert (Ich würde Ihnen telefoniert haben), v/enn ich nicht hätte kommen können. Ich sagte ihnen, dass ich ihnen helfen würde, wenn ich könnte. Ich wäre sehr gern mit Ihnen ins Theater gegangen (Ich würde sehr gern mit Ihnen ins Theater gegangen sein), aber ich war furchtbar beschäftigt. Wenn der Aufzug (Fahrstuhl, Lift) in Ordnung gewesen wäre, so (or dann) wäre ich nicht die Treppe hinuntergefallen (so würde ich nicht die Treppe hinuntergefallen sein). Ich fragte ihn, wieviel ich ihm schuldig wäre (or sei). Er fragte mich, ob ich dort ausstiege (aussteige). Ich sie
179
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN fragte ihn, ob er das Licht anknipsen könnte. Er fragte mich, ob ich mit dem Fahrstuhl hinauffahren wollte {or wolle). Ich sagte ihm, dass ich jede Woche einen Brief von ihr bekäme (bekomme). Der Chauffeur fragte mich, zu was für einem Hotel ich gehen möchte (or wollte). Ich sagte ihm, dass ich die Treppe heraufgekommen wäre {or sei). Der Lift junge sagte, dass er einen Wecker auf den Kamin in meinem Zimmer {or meines Zimmers) gesetzt hätte {or habe). Das Mädchen sah aus, als ob sie {or es) mehrere Wochen an der See verbracht hätte.
Exercise 73
A
Sea-Voyage from Ostend to Dover
A great desire of mine My parents promised that
^
was at
I
might
be fulfilled. a friend in London. Quite apart from the reunion with him (meeting him, seeing him again) (I had not seen him for a year), I was especially looking forward to the sea-voyage. I had always heard and read so much about the beauty of the sea that I longed (thereafter) to be allowed to admire this beauty with my own eyes. I was not disappointed. The day of my departure dawned at last. The clerk of the weather seemed to me to be quite friendly, and the sun beamed {or shone) quite brightly from the dark-blue sky. After a long railway journey from Wiesbaden I arrived at 4 o'clock in Ostend. I hired a porter to take my cases on to the ship. Together with all the other passengers I passed a barrier, where my passport was carefully examined. They asked me if I had any (= had not any) dutiable goods. I replied in the negative. After I had opened my cases I was allowed (to go) through {or by). last to
visit
went across the wooden gangway on to the big boat. was a Belgian boat. A few sailors with bronzed faces and weather-beaten features were hurrying about on the I soon became deck. I had a look round the ship. I
It
*
Ein Freund von mir, a friend of mine.
180
KEY TO EXERCISES acquainted with a young Englishman who had already made this journey several times and was a bit more conversant with everything. He showed me where we could sit comfortably and be protected from the wind. A loud, deafening blast of the siren indicated that we were ready to leave. We went (sailed, steamed) out of the harbour into the open sea. The coloured sails of the fishing-smacks looked very beautiful in the sunshine.
The
sea, slightly ruffled
by
a pleasing fresh wind, gave a picturesque impression. Ostend, with its beautiful beach and the big hotels, retreated further and further away. We went past the buoys which tinkled and tossed about After three hours' journey we could see the in the water. white coast of England. An hour later the travellers conversed merrily with one another and looked for their The cases, in order to get ready for going ashore. boat entered Dover harbour. The sun was already slowly sinking in the west. In Dover the immigration officers examined our passports and the customs officers examined our cases. I entered a compartment of the through-train for London which stood waiting and made myself comfortable. I had a cup of Enghsh tea brought to me. Then I felt like a giant refreshed. Thank Heaven! I had not been seasick!
Exercise 74
Er wäscht sich im Badezimmer. Sie hat sich die Hände schon gewaschen. Haben Sie (etwas) Geld bei Haben Sie den Reifen selbst repariert (ausgesich? Die Tür öffnete sich und ein grosser Herr trat bessert) ? Sie kleidet sich an, glaube ich.
Ich fühle mich Zwei Jungen waren an die Tür gelehnt und plauderten miteinander. Sie wandte sich (drehte Das Rathaus war in der Friedrichsich) schnell um. Kein Blatt regte sich. Sie setzten sich auf den strasse. herein.
ganz komisch.
181
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Stuhl.
Haben
Sie
sich
rasiert?
kleideten
Sie
sich
Ich will mich in der Stadt umsehen. Sie irren sich, wenn Sie glauben, dass ich ein Franzose bin. Ich habe mich erkältet. Wir haben uns vorgenommen, einige Freunde in Bonn zu besuchen. Wir verirrten uns in dem Walde. Erinnern Sie sich des Namens von unserem Hotel (unseres Hotels would sound unpleasant after des Namens). Ich freue mich, dass Sie angekommen sind. Das Kind legte sich auf das Bett und weinte. Warum regen Sie sich so auf? Meine Schwestern sehen sich die Schaufenster an. Waschen Sie sich! Waschen Sie sich die Hände! Drehen Sie sich nicht um! Setzen Sie sich, bitte! Ich habe mir vorgenommen, einige Tage in Dresden zu verbringen. schnell aus.
Exercise 75
Es kam mir ganz komisch vor. Es freut mich, dass angekommen sind. Es schneite, als wir Bonn verliessen. Es waren mehrere Soldaten in dem Wirtshaus. Waren (lagen) einige Schiffe in dem Hafen? Es schlug zwei Uhr, als wir am Rathaus vorbeifuhren. Ich beSie
dauere
(=
or es tut
I regret;
mir
leid),
wir haben keine
englischen Zeitungen übrig.^ Gefällt es Ihnen in Berlin? Ihr neues Auto gefällt ihr nicht. Wie geht es Ihnen? Sind einige Briefmarken in der Schublade? Gelang es Wieihr (Ist es ihr gelungen), ihre Prüfung zu bestehen? viele Personen sind (befinden sich) in dem Abteil? Es Es langweilt mich gibt keine Sklaven in diesem Lande. So kam es mir vor. Es ist mir gelunhier zu bleiben. Bitte, machen Sie gen, diese schwere Sprache zu lernen. das Fenster zu, mir ist kalt. Es tut ihm leid, dass er
kommen
heute abend nicht
mich
seit
nicht an. ^
Übrig,
Wochen
kann.
ob
ich
Das geht
Sie
Mir war,
nicht gewaschen hätte.
als
Zieht es? left
longer, never
over,
remaining;
any more.
182
mehr would mean here no
CONCLUSION The student who has conscientiously worked out the and has followed our advice in reading German
exercises
now in a position to advance on his own account. He should buy a good dictionary a good choice would
is
;
be The E.U.P. Concise German Dictionary. To obtain greater mastery of the language it is necessary to write and read as much as possible. The student who follows our advice and finds a correspondent in Germany will find he is making good progress if his German friend is conscientiously helping him with his grammar and construction. This service, to be permanent and beneficial, must, of course, be mutual. The student should endeavour to study and sympathize with the views and likes and dislikes of his correspondent. If an exchange of visits can result from such a correspondence, so much the better. The important thing is to read as much as possible, looking up just those words and idioms necessary for an appreciation of the matter. A close attention to the meaning of every word is only going to kill the interest and bring discouragement or boredom. The vocabulary and " feeling for the language " (das Sprachgefühl) will then come unconsciously and pleasantly. By the time the student has progressed thus far upon the road, he will be able to dispense with his guide and proceed alone on a wonderful voyage of discovery, delighting in every fresh vista that opens up before his And in this interesting, nay, exciting enterprise eyes. " we wish him " Glückliche Reise! »83
APPENDIX A TABLE OF GERMAN DECLENSIONS
A
bracketed Umlaut means that not all the nouns indicated take the Umlaut in the plural. This is best learnt by sa^^ng for the four declensions " Sometimes sometimes always never." :
1.
—
—
—
—
:
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN Notes 2.
Feminine nouns take no ending in the singular. As a rule monosyllables take the -es of the Gen. sing, in Declensions 2 and 3, and words of more than one syllable
3.
Words ending
4.
Notice
all
Nouns
of Declension
1.
take
-s.
in -s in Declension 2 and in -in in Declension 4 double the final consonant before the ending : Autobus
—
Königin Königinnen. Declensions have -n in the Dative plural.
Autobusse
;
SPECIA L LISTS OF I
NOUNS
taking the Umlaut in the plural
Masculine : Hafen, harbour Acker, field Apfel, apple Hammer, hammer Kasten, box Boden, ground Bruder, brother Laden, shop Mangel, lack Faden, thread Garten, garden Mantel, coat Nagel, nail Graben, ditch Neuter : das Kloster, monastery 2.
:
Ofen, stove, oven Sattel, saddle Schnabel, beak Schwager, brotherin-law Vater, father Vogel, bird
Masculine nouns of Declension 2 not taking the Umlaut in the plural Aal, eel
Apparat, apparatus
Arm, arm Docht, wick
Dom, dome,
cathe-
dral
Fasan, pheasant Grad, degree Huf, hoof
Kran, crane Lachs, salmon
Punkt, point Salat, salad
Lauch, leek Monat, month
Salm, salmon
Mond, moon Omnibus, omnibus
Schuh, shoe Star, starUng
Park, park Pfad, path Puis, pulse
Stofi, stuff
Schal, scarf
Tag, day Thron, throne
Hund, dog 3.
Feminine monosyllables of Declension 2 where possible) Hand, hand Axt, axe Haut, skin Bank, bench Kraft, power Braut, bride Kuh, cow Brust, breast Macht, might Faust, fist Magd. maid Frucht, fruit
{all
taking Umlauf
:
Gans, goose
186
Maus, mouse Nacht, night Nuss, nut Stadt, city wall
Wand,
Wurst, sausage
:
:
APPENDIX A 4.
Neuter nouns of Declension 3
Amt,
Gesicht, face
Land, country
Bad, bath
Gespenst, ghost
Bild, picture
Glas, glass
Licht, light Lied, song
Blatt, leaf
Glied,
Buch, book Dach, roof Denkmal, memorial
Grab, grave
Nest, nest
Gras, grass
Rad, wheel
Haus, house Horn, horn
Schloss, castle
Huhn, chicken
Tal, valley
Kalb, calf Kind, child
Tuch, cloth Volk, people Weib, woman Wort, word
office
Dorf, village
egg Fach, subject Ei,
Fass, barrel Feld, field Geschlecht, sex 5.
Gott, god Leib, body
Schwert, sword
Kleid, dress
Mann, man Rand, edge
Nouns, 2nd Declension in Masculine
Loch, hole
Lamm, lamb
Masculine monosyllables of Declension 3 Geist, spirit, ghost
6.
member
sing,,
:
Wald, wood
Wurm, worm
4th Declension in plural
:
Bauer, farmer Mast, mast
See, lake
Strahl, ray
Staat, state
Vetter, cousin
Hemd,
Insekt, insect Interesse, interest
Nachbar, neighbour Neuter
:
Auge, eye Bett, bed Ende, end
Herz
shirt (-ens,
heart
187
Ohr. ear
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J^ SPRECHEN
SIE
Dt Hl SCH?
Did you know tha^ Gcin an is THF leading language of Europe? German, concearated in the heartland of the European continent,
is
spoken not only Dy the inhabitants of
Germany, Austria and Switzer-and, out is the second language of millions who live on ihe borders of the Teutonic homeland. If you travel to Holland, Sweden, Polanu, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, northern Italy eastern France, the chances are you will get along better in German than English or French.
With the unique methods of self-teaching descn d in this book you can learn to speak, read and write r.rni >n easily and quickly. You need no other help. Everything you need to know about grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and idioms is included in this one volume. The only other t'lin^^ required is your willingness to spend a few minutes e^ery day with it. Anyone who ""ollows this course conscientiously should be able to maste- ihe basic elements of Gc .man
within a very short time.
TEACH YOURSELF GERMAN provides: Condensed Grammar Pronunciation Guide» •
Colloquial Phrases
•
Exercises
•
Translation
Key
